Little Red Riding Hood
by samettikettu
Summary: Eight years ago Luffy was diagnosed with amnesia, causing him to forget his childhood. When delivering a request from Garp to Dadan, he learns that a certain blond man with a blue top-hat knows him better than he does. Luffy also meets someone who has been waiting for him for eight years. They also learn that Luffy's amnesia is part of a great plan. [ACExLUFFY, AU] to Angelrider13
1. Chapter 1: Brother

**[WARNING!]** THIS FIC WAS NOT BETA'ED SINCE THIS IS A BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR MY LOVELY AND BEAUTIFUL BETA, **ANGELRIDER13**!

_IF YOU CAN LIVE WITH THAT, WITH POSSIBLE OOC-ness AND WITH A THOUGHT ABOUT ACELU (_also known as D-cest_) HAPPENING IN THE FUTURE CHAPTERS, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO PROCEED!_ If not, then you can continue straight to door that says 'EXIT'.

The wonderful and great **Eiichiro Oda** owns the characters of _One Piece_, I do not.. If I did, then the Marineford War would have never happened, and Law would be getting married with Luffy. (Some day! Some day...)

* * *

_A sad howl could be heard from the deep, black forest. It changed into loud sobs and cries._

_"Why didn't you come?"_

_A small child sat on a rock, surrounded only by trees so high that you couldn't see the sky._

_"Why did you leave me alone?" the child cried louder._  
_The forest was dark, it ate every source of light it could. The darkness crept into the child's heart, poisoning it with hatred._  
_"I hate you!" the child roared towards the unseen sky._  
_"I hope that you're dead!"_

_The lonely child stood up on the rock and stared up. A shiny single tear rolled down from his cheek._  
_"I miss you..."_

_And he disappeared into the darkness._

* * *

**- Little Red Riding Hood - **

**~ samettikettu**

**Chapter 1.**

**'Brother'**

* * *

Monkey D. Luffy was a happy high school student. He lived with his childhood friend and best friend Roronoa Zoro. They both went the same high school, Luffy was on the first grade and Zoro was a senior. After this year he would leave the apartment to move to a bigger city to continue his studies. Luffy wouldn't live alone, his other good friend, Usopp, would move in with him so he could be closer the school and his girlfriend Kaya. So, Luffy had nothing to worry about! Of course he was a bit sad that his best friend had to move and they wouldn't see each other for a while, but he was also happy for Zoro.  
Very happy.  
Actually, truth to be told, the little teen was a bit scared about Zoro's leave. They had been together since grade school and he hated being alone. Zoro, along with Gramps, were his only family. Or at least he believed so.  
Luffy had _amnesia_; he had hit his head when he was about nine years old. According to Gramps, he had been playing outside when he slipped and hit his head to a rock.  
Luffy didn't remember anything about his life before waking up from the hospital bed and wondering who were the huge old guy with a scar on his face, and the small boy with awesome green hair.

He had started his life from the beginning. He had a big hole in his memory and sometimes had even problems with remembering things he had heard, seen or experienced, for example two hours ago. But this happened very rarely.  
Sure, he didn't remember his long friendship with Zoro, they met when Luffy was five and Zoro was seven, but got immediately attached to him when he saw his unnatural hair colour. That made things easier for Garp, and for Zoro.

"Luffy! Wake up!" Zoro yelled from the kitchen, holding his mobile phone in other hand while with the other he was lifting weights. He was some sort of a body builder; he was a swordsman and studied the history of the swordsmen and martial arts. He had a tournament in a few weeks and he had to stay in shape.  
_"He's still sleeping?" _a voice asked from the other line of the phone.

"Yeah, he stayed up rather late last night. Dunno why", Zoro answered. On the other line was Monkey D Garp, alias Gramps. He sighed.  
"Wait just a sec; I'll go wake him up myself." Zoro put the phone down and marched to the little monkey's room. He opened the door and was ready to throw the weight on his friend's head when he halted. This was not sight he had expected: Luffy was fully dressed and sat on the bed holding his head with both of his hands. He seemed to be in pain. _'Migraine'_, Zoro guessed.

"Hey, buddy." He kept his voice as soft and quiet he could. After getting the amnesia, Luffy sometimes got migraine attacks which would keep him from sleeping and made him throw up his food, sometimes it even made him so dizzy that he would sway in danger to fall. Once he did faint during the attack. Garp had demanded to have all the medicines the pharmacy had to offer but none of those pills or potions would help.  
Luffy looked up and tried to smile to his friend, pain visibly in his features. He continued to rub his temples.  
"Morning, Zoro."

"How long have you been up?"

"I didn't go to sleep, couldn't do that." Zoro's eyes widened a bit. So it was this serious.

"Garp's on the phone, wants to talk with you. Come to the kitchen and I'll try to make something for you to eat and drink." Zoro held out his hand, which Luffy gratefully took as he tried to get up without falling down from the bed due the dizziness. He smiled to his best friend and then followed the green-haired young man to the kitchen. There he took the phone from the counter and sat down on the table holding the phone to his ear.  
"Hiya Gramps."

_"Luffy, my boy!"_ Luffy groaned and took the phone from his ear to ease the throbbing pain his Gramps' greeting (more like a yell) caused. Zoro sighed.  
_"Oh, sorry sorry. Having one of those attacks again? I'm going to sue those damn pharmacists for not giving you the medication you need!"_

"Nah, don't worry Gramps. I'm doing fine."

"No you are not, you stayed up another night because of the migraine!" Zoro protested, loud enough for Garp to hear. The old man in the end of the line could only sigh.  
_"This is looking bad, Luffy. You are having those attacks more often than you used to have, and they are getting worse. I suggest that we go and see a doctor who actually knows what he's doing."_

Luffy rubbed his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. Not this again.  
"This can't possibly be the thing you called for."

_"Oh no, no it isn't. I was hoping that you'd do me a favour?"_

"Hmm?"  
Zoro shooed Luffy off the table and placed a bowl of cereals and a glass of apple juice in front of him. Luffy, who sat down on a chair next to the table like normal people do, smiled to him and thanked. A light breakfast was the best thing during the days he had an attack. On the other days he would eat meat, meat and more meat.

_"I was hoping that you could visit an old friend of mine. She lives in the woods outside of the city. You see, she's fallen ill and is lacking from supplies."_

"A friend?"

_"Yes, an old drinking friend of mine. Curly Dadan, surely you remember-, oh wait no you don't. She's been living there since God knows when and in the old days you liked to play there with her and her family. Anyway, she called me and asked if I could go to the town and buy her this and that, but I'm currently at the other side of Grand Line, and-"  
_  
"Yes yes, I can go. Send me a list of those things she wants to have and I'll be on my way." the boy waved his hand and made a face, Zoro chuckled. _'Monkey D. Garp, you are getting old since you blather more than you used to'_, Zoro snickered.

_"Fantastic! Thank you Luffy! I'll transfer the money on your bank account. Oh, and I will be visiting you in the end of next month. See you then!"_  
Luffy put the phone down and started to eat his breakfast, his headache wasn't as bad as it was moments ago.  
"What did the old geezer want?" Zoro sat at the other side of the table taking a sip out of his coffee.

"He wants me to buy some supplies to a woman and take them to her. Dundun was her name?"

"Dundun? Ah, he must have meant _Dadan_."

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Pfth, yeah sure. I wonder how that granny is holding up."

"You know her?" The raven-haired teen had finished his cereals. He swallowed two painkillers, which wouldn't work but oh well, and drank the juice.  
"Yeah, I met her when we were brats. She was, hmm... Interesting, to say at least. Tries to act tough but has a weakness for children. You liked to hang out with her and her family", Zoro smiled fondly as the sweet childhood memories started to come back to him. Luffy blinked and furrowed.  
"I don't remember."

"Of course you don't because it all happened before your accident. Shame though", the green-haired young man rose and walked to the sink and put his mug into the dishwasher, Luffy followed the example.

"So, what are you going to do today?"

"First I'll pay my kendo-teacher a visit and then head straight to the training grounds and gym. You?" Zoro was putting on his shoes as he straightened he glanced at his friend who was busy spinning around. Talk about ADHD... Ah, he stopped.  
"I'll go to the down town to buy the supplies for Dundan-"

"Dadan."

"Yeah, that's what I said. Dadan and the go to her. She lives in the woods, right?"  
Oh, crap. Zoro had completely forgotten about that part.  
_The forest_, just outside of the town, was off limits. No one was allowed to enter there since it was full of beasts, like bears, wolves and big wildcats. Sure, it doesn't sound bad at first but the beasts were huge and dangerous and normal shot guns didn't work against them. Normal wolves were smaller than human but these were two times bigger and ate everything in their sight. And the bears... He didn't even want to think about their size.  
Zoro had never actually seen an actual wolf, but he had heard rumours about the man-eating beasts twice as big as an average man. An old man once saw a wolf while he was walking his dog during the night time. Its eyes were big and red and it was lurking him from the edge of the forest. Shadows made its body hard to see, but it was there, watching the man and his dog.  
When the morning came both, the man and the dog, were found from the middle of the town shaking and white as sheets. The man kept stuttering the word _wolf_.

Zoro knew Luffy was good at fighting when it came to defending himself or his friends, but the idea of letting his best friend wander alone in the woods was unnerving. What if he didn't come back? What if a wolf or a bear attacks him? What if he gets lost?! What if he gets hurt?!  
So many _'what if_s.

"Zoro?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Umm, I believe there was a path to her house. It may be hidden under the vegetation by now I guess."

"So I just have to look for it! Shi hih, don't worry Zoro! I won't get lost as easily as you so I'll be fine!" the raven-haired teen laughed. Zoro's face flushed from embarrassment_. 'That little...'_

The green-haired swordsman sighed as he pulled his leather jacket on. This whole idea was unsettling and he had a bad feeling about it. Sure, Zoro trusted Garp's judgements but he still found the whole idea of letting Luffy wander through the forest alone scary as hell.

"Zoro, are you alright? You went quiet all of a sudden..." Luffy waved his hand in front of his friend's face. Zoro snapped out of his daydream and blinked before raising his right hand behind his head and scratched.  
"Oh yeah, sorry.."

"I brought your swords!" Luffy held out three katanas, all Zoro's. The man thanked and Luffy beamed.  
Zoro held his left hand on the door handle as the right one held the swords on his shoulder.  
"Luffy", he started carefully. He didn't want to sound worried.

"Nah?"

"Be careful, okay? Stay on the path, don't get lost."

Luffy blinked but then smiled. "Of course I won't, Zoro! I'll see you by dinner time. Shih hih hih!"

Zoro smiled at his friend and left the apartment. They lived on the first floor so no stairs for Zoro and he was grateful for that. After the workout he usually was so tired that even opening the front door was hard for him! Just to think what would happen if he had to climb up some bloody stairs! He would be found sleeping from the stairs and the neighbours would be laughing at him.

"I'll see you tonight Luffy and I'll cook something good for you", Zoro spoke to himself and started to make his way to the school's training grounds.

* * *

Luffy was literally bouncing off the walls. He was excited.  
He had never gone to the woods and it felt like he was going on to an adventure! To discover something totally new and unfamiliar to him was the most awesome thing ever! He couldn't wait!

Luffy hurried to his room and pulled on his favourite red hoody along with a straw-hat with a red ribbon around it. He had no idea where he had gotten it, or from who nor why, but he did know that it was special to him. He couldn't leave the house without it. The hat was some sort of a lucky charm, and he didn't want anything to happen to it. It was that dear and precious to him.  
He always wore loose jean shorts and sandals, no matter if it was summer sun or autumn rain. Under his red hoody was a black tank top.

After searching for his wallet and cell phone, Luffy headed for the front door. He put the wallet in his jeans' back pocket and checked his phone for the text message Gramps had spoken about earlier. Yep, there it was. _"Meat, sake, chocolate cupcakes, strawberry cupcakes, banana cupcakes, meat, more sake, cleaning supplies, medicine, sake... _More cupcakes?_"_  
Luffy blinked. For how many people were these meant to? He grabbed the shopping basket, meant for bigger shopping trips, which he and Zoro used. It would come in hand during this 'adventure'.  
The teen put on his sandals and walked out of the apartment.

"Hello world! What a nice day to have an adventure, isn't it!"

The shopping trip wasn't as easy as Luffy had expected. He had bought the medicine, cleaning supplies, the meat and the sake, but he had to wait for the baker to bake the morning's first cupcakes before buying them. He had had a fight with the owner and the head-baker. The man had yelled that it was impossible for him to bake that amount of cupcakes in this short amount of time. Luffy had only laughed at him and cheered the baker on his mission.  
So the man couldn't be mad at the boy. When the cupcakes were ready it had taken a lot of willpower from Luffy not to eat them by himself. They smelled so delicious! The man had actually been so nice that he had given Luffy free examples of each flavor Luffy was to deliver to Durandu-no, wait... To Dadan.

"Thanks again Mr. Baker guy! You are the best!"

"Bwa haha! Nosy kid, come visit my shop again!"

"I will, bye!" Luffy waved to the man who waved back at him.  
So, now he just had to find the pathway, which lead to Dadan's house.

Luffy held the full basket with both of his hands. It was so full and heavy! But the cupcakes smelled so good...

His surroundings got more and more uninhabited when he got closer to the forest. When Luffy stood in the point where the forest started and the town ended, he started to feel uneasy. Surely he wasn't scared, he was shaking from the excitement. He also felt like he had been here before.

Luffy gazed in front of him.  
Green vegetation spread out everywhere he looked. It was beautiful. It went on and on, until at some point he could only see dark, no daylight. The boy felt eyes on him, and he hadn't even stepped in the forest yet!  
Luffy blinked and tried to sort out a pathway from the vegetation.

"If I was a pathway, where would I be..."

_"If you ever wish to enter the forest safely, find the pathway! It starts from next to the large three with an "X" carved on its bark. It's the sign of our friendship!"_ a childish voice said, followed by a carefree giggle. It startled Luffy, making him turn 360 degrees. No one was there.  
He swallowed and tried to see if there was someone luring in the shadows.  
"Is someone there? Hello?"

Nothing.

"That voice... It was familiar.."

Luffy stepped back and tried to find the "_large tree with an X_". He blinked as he spotted a rather big tree and walked to it. The tree really was enormous! Luffy stared it with awe. It was way bigger and larger than the other ones. Oh, and look! There was the X-mark along with the pathway, how convenient!  
"Just.. What the hell is going on here? Oh well, at least I saved some time!" Luffy shrugged and stepped in to the woods starting to walk along the path, deeper and deeper to the forest.

* * *

The further the teen went the darker it came. The sunlight came more and fainter further Luffy went. Sure he still saw the dirt path under him but he couldn't help but wonder what would happen when it was pitch black so he couldn't see the path nor hear it under his sandals. But he could see in front of him and the path, which was at the most important thing at the moment.  
Luffy took a moment to experience his surroundings. Green vegetation wherever he laid his eye. No sight of the destruction caused by a human hand. It was beautiful.  
Too bad there weren't any animals or birds. The forest was silent. Dang, Luffy had actually hoped to see a bird, an actual wild bird. An owl for example! Boy, those birds were cool. Those big eyes and the ability to turn their head 180-or something degrees... Just how cool was that?!  
He had seen a picture of an owl in a school book, which he was supposed to read. He never did, or at least he didn't remember doing so. Oh well!

Luffy spun around and laughed. He liked his adventure so far. It was so peaceful and nice in here!  
He was so concentrated on taking in everything about the grass and flowers that he missed to notice pair of red eyes, shining from behind a tree.

"Nah... Maybe I should hurry to Denden before it gets too late", the teen murmured to himself and pulled his straw-hat down from his head, hanging around his neck by a string, replacing it with the red hood. It was getting chilly. He even pulled the zipper all the way up. Taking a better grasp of the basket, Luffy continued his journey.  
If only he knew how much further it was he would have taken some snacks with him. He was getting hungry. And getting too hungry often caused him headaches, which Luffy hated.

The forest started to darken and get colder.

The dark shadow with red eyes was still unnoticed to the red hood-wearing teen.

Soon it was so dark that Luffy couldn't see anything! He cursed his luck but continued on feeling the dirt path under his sandals. He even had to remove the hood, since it seemed like it was blocking some of his eye sight. More curses under his breath. It sounded crazy, yes, but after hitting more than two trees he had made his decision… and it was to remove his warm hood. At least he now saw something! – that was more darkness. Luffy groaned.  
Suddenly, he felt someone's hot breathing against his hair, which was not hard to notice since there was no wind to mess with his hair. He was about to turn around and yell at the person behind him but something kept him still. He started to feel colder and nervous.  
Who was behind him? No, the better question was _WHAT_.  
Luffy was shaking.  
He was sweating cold sweat.  
He even felt pure panic creep into his skin.  
Oh, he was so ready to sprint off from anything that was behind him. But no. He had his dignity. He was a man! No man ran away from the adventure! He wouldn't be able to call himself a man if he escaped now. So instead, Luffy took a deep breath.

"Who's there?"

No answer but the teen could hear a low chuckle, also a low growl. Was this person hungry? Luffy decided to try again.  
"Who's there?" he asked louder. Still nothing. Was this guy messing with him?!  
"I know you're behind me! Tell me who you are!"

"I'm afraid that you are not the one to order me around, little one." a calm and low voice said. Still keeping his back turned Luffy smiled. At least they were talking. He relaxed a bit.

"My name is no business of yours, but I can't help but be awfully curious about your being here. All alone, in the dark forest, in the middle of nowhere, where only wild animals and beasts live. Are you perhaps suicidal?" Luffy could almost imagine the smirk on the person's lips, who was now mocking him.

"I'm looking for my Gramps' old friend to whom I'm supposed to take this heavy basket!" the boy smiled and made a small movement with the hand that held the basket. He felt like he had made a new friend.

"Hn, no one lives here..."

"But Gramps said that Curry Donut lives here!"

"A... A what?"

"No it wasn't Curry Donut.. Cur-something Demden? No.. Dadin? No, that wasn't it either.." Luffy tilted his head to the side and kept thinking about the name in his head. Just what was that woman's name?!

"It can't be... Dadan?"

"Na?"

"Curly Dadan?"

"Oh, that's right! Shi hih hih! Almost nailed it!"  
The teen laughed. The tall person, a man according to his voice, was silent and stared the scrawny boy in front of him. His eyes allowed him to see in dark, so he could examine the boy when he wouldn't expect nor see a thing.

"Hey, do you know where that Dadame-guy lives? I've been walking here for hours and have no idea where I am or where she lives!"

"Uhh..."

"Please! I'll give a yummy cupcake!" Luffy put the basket down and knelt. Lucky for him that the cupcakes were on the top so he didn't have to search the whole basket in the dark. The man behind him stared the boy. What this boy had in mind? He should be scared or at least in panic. What was this kid's problem? First he marches in to the forest just like that and then he says that he's delivering a basket filled with food to Curly Dadan! Just who was this kid anyway?

"Here!"  
The boy stood in front of him, holding out a cupcake he thought the man was standing, which was at the opposite way. The man sweat-dropped, was this kid serious?!  
Sighing, the man shuffled in front the boy. Once again he thanked the forest's darkness and his eye-sight. The boy was oblivious and smiled with full force. Moving his eyes from the boy to the held out cupcake. He eyed it with suspicion.  
When the sweet scent reached his nose, drool started to drop down from his mouth. The aroma was simply delicious!  
After realizing the drool dripping from his mouth, the tall man snapped out of the trance. How utterly embarrassing... Luckily the kid didn't have night vision like he did. He would be laughing at the man. Clearing his throat, the man spoke: "It's a deal."

"Awesome! Thank you very much Mister Tall Man!"

_'Mr. Tall... Man?'_

The man carefully took the precious dessert from the boy's hands. He could feel his mouth watering. When was the last time he had tasted something as delicious as a chocolate-vanilla cupcake?! He would eat it slowly and let the taste fill his mouth-  
"Uh, Mr. Tall Man... Are you still there?"

Oh, right. The kid and the deal.

"This way, follow me."

They had been walking for a half of an hour or so. At some point the man had to take a hold of Luffy's hand since the boy had managed to hit a tree! So he was walking with a blind here.

"How much further?"

"Few meters."

"Hey, Mr. Tall Man?"

"Ehh.. What?"

"I never told me your name!"

"Well, neither did you."

"Hey, you're right! Shih hih hih!" childish laughter filled the air. Even the stone-faced man was urged to smile. But it died down as soon as it had found its way on his lips.  
There was a clearing up ahead. _Dadan lived there._  
The man was going to stop soon and tell the boy to continue alone since he couldn't let the boy see his true form.  
Now the boy also saw light up ahead.  
"Is it that over there?"

"Yes."

Soon the man stopped.  
No further.  
He couldn't go any further.

"Hey, why you stopped?"

"Dadan lives at the clearing over there. You should be fine if you continue from here on your own", the man let go of Luffy's hand. The boy took a step ahead but stopped.  
"You still didn't tell me your name!"

God the boy was stubborn!

"It's Ace. Satisfied now?"

"Yes!" the boy laughed his _'shih hih hih_' laugh, which began to feel nostalgic somehow.

"See ya again Ace!" the kid leaped forward and walked towards the clearing. Soon he would meet the mystery woman who loved cupcakes!

"Hey hold on! You didn't tell me yours!"

Luffy was just by the end of the forest as he turned around and smiled brightly at his savior.

"It's Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meet you Ace, and thanks for the help!" as he said that he turned back to face clearing and stepped out of the dark forest. He saw a beautiful meadow and in the middle of it was a small and worn cottage. Luffy sprinted towards the entrance and knocked.

Ace had followed Luffy to the line where the forest ended and clearing started. His eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping. He didn't believe this! Was that kid seriously _him_?! How come Ace hadn't recognized his scent?! Nor his face?! Seriously: how could he have missed the scar underneath the boy's left eye?!  
The man continued to watch the teen as he was let inside by a big orange-haired woman named Curly Dadan. The woman noticed Ace but didn't say anything, she waved at him and closed the door.

"_Lu...ffy..?_"

Was it really him?  
After all these years he came back for him?  
_'Why... What took you so long?!'_

Ace lowered his eyes on the cupcake. Luffy had given this to him. With a fond smile, he lifted the dessert to his lips and took a small bite. Finding the flavor absolutely delicious, he ate it with one bite. Of course he wiped his mouth.  
Ace might be a horrible beast, a monster, but he had better manners than humans.

The young man with two flaming red eyes decided to wait for Luffy. He would get his answers today. The answer to a one certain question he had been wondering for the last eight years.

"I'll see you soon, my little Red Riding Hood, very soon."

* * *

Curly Dadan stared the short teenager in front of her. Boy, the kid had changed during these eight years! His style hadn't changed a bit! Still wearing sandals, jean shorts, red hoody and the straw-hat from his idol. And of course the unruly black hair and the small scar under his left eye. He still had the carefree smile and his eyes shone with excitement to discover new things.

"It's been a while, Luffy." the woman spoke fondly. The teen blinked and tilted his head, still watching curiously the large female in front of him.  
"You have grown a lot! But you still are the same rascal you were years ago, huh?"

"Umm... Do I know you?"

Dadan dropped the cigarette she was smoking. Had this rascal dared to forgot her?! Sure, last time they met was eight years ago, but she was the type of person no one could forget! Or should she say dared.  
"L-Luffy? It's me! Dadan!"

"You're the one Gramps asked to bring all these cupcakes?" the boy laughed.  
"Are you going to eat them alone? Could I have some? I'm hungry from all that walking in the forest... Oh and I hope you don't mind that I gave one cupcake to one nice man who helped through the forest!"

"Uhh..." Dadan was dumbfounded. Who was this teen before her? He looked, acted and talked like one certain kid did years past, but... Ah, wait. When she had called Garp to ask someone to bring her the supplies, he had offered to ask Luffy. When Dadan got excited about the idea, Garp had warned her: _"He's not the same Luffy as he was eight years ago. You remember the day don't you? The day after when Luffy, along with Zoro, stopped visiting you. He has __**amnesia**__ and doesn't remember anything before waking up from the hospital. I do not know what happened in that forest that day, but boy.. It took Zoro a lot strength to get him back. We decided not to tell him about you or your family. Believe me, it was hard since you practically belong to our family, but it was best for him."_

Dadan was a bit hurt because of the decision but after hearing that it was for Luffy's best, she accepted it. She had been wondering why the happy kid had stopped visiting her and had tried to call Garp. She then received a letter from that green-haired kid Zoro, who always followed Luffy around, which said that something had happened and they wouldn't be visiting her for a while, which turned in the weeks, months and then years. Seriously! She had thought that the kid had died!

"Hey, Big Lady!"

Ah, yes. Still a rascal. "Yes?"

"Where do you want me to put these?"

"Ah, follow me."

Luffy followed Dadan to the kitchen. There was a long dining table with twenty chairs around it.  
"Put the basket there", Dadan pointed the counter as she sat down at the table and took out another cigarette. As she lit it up she kept her eyes on the boy. The boy had matured but looked still childish. Unruly black hair, big brown eyes and a small grin appeared to his face when he pulled out a cupcake with a little ladybug sitting on it. Luffy let out a light giggle and put the cupcake down and away from the others so that no one would eat the small bug.  
Dadan felt sorry for the kid. Having a big hole in his memory must not be nice at all and for being so young at the time, losing all his memories from the childhood. Having to start from beginning must have been hard. She couldn't even imagine it.  
"Luffy?"

"Na?" the boy turned his attention to the smoking woman at the dining table from the basket.

"You don't remember who I am, do you." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. It stung a bit to admit it herself, but she had to know.

"Umm... Sorry no", the kid shook his head apolitically. Dadan sighed.  
"But before I came here, Zoro told me that I used to come here to okay a lot with you and your family..?"

"Ah, yes. Yes you did", the woman smiled nostalgically. Good times, good times.

Silence fell upon the two. The only thing that could be heard was Luffy empting the basket from the supplies. And also Dadan taking a drag from the cigarette and exhaling.

"Umm... Big Lady-"

"Dadan."

"Dadan... Could you, umm..."

"Hmm?"

"Could you tell me about the times I came here?"

The woman agreed to the question with a smile. Of course she would.  
"The time you first came here, you were seven years old. You came with Garp one night when we were having a party for his promotion", Dadan smiled gently as he remembered the small brat. Luffy had been so tiny for his age even though he ate four times more for his age. Luffy had finished unpacking the basket and took a seat at other side of the table.

"First you didn't want to be here with us drunken adults, but then you met-" Dadan shut her mouth. She wasn't sure if she should tell him about the two youngest habitants at that time. Sure, they had been like brothers at that time, but something told her not to give names. So she would stick with anonymous.

"I met who?"

"You met two boys, one was three and a half years older and the other was three years older than you. It took you awhile put you became the best friends, brothers even! After that, you visited us nearly every day for the next two years. You always brought food and clothes for your brothers, who were thankful for that. But then one day you stopped visiting. The boys were sad and came asking me if I knew anything about you. Sadly, I didn't. They waited for you but you never showed up." Dadan sighed. It was heavy to bring this up. She still remembered the broken expressions the kids had. Luffy blinked and stared at the woman who had gone quiet all of a sudden.

"Then I heard from Garp about your incident. I tried to tell the boys, but they wouldn't listen to me. Not the younger at least. He was furious for your disappearance. He moved in the dark forest and I never saw him again. He sometimes visits me, but very rarely. The older one heard me out and wanted to visit you at the hospital but I wouldn't allow it. To my surprise he understood. After that he and the others have been taking good care of me. We waited for you to come and visit us but you never did", a tear slid down from Dadan's eye and Luffy saw that. He actually felt bad!

"I, umm..."

"But that's old day's news! You're here and well, and that is important!" the woman laughed loudly. She was very happy. Luffy smiled a little.

"Hey, Dadan!" a yell came from the hallway, followed by many other voices.  
"Is the food ready yet?"

"Uuu! What smells so good?"

"We saw Ace in the woods on our way here. Looked like he was coming from here-"

The men stopped in the doorway. There were about sixteen men, staring both Dadan and Luffy, with eyes wide and yaws on the floor. Dadan smiled and took a drag from her cigarette.  
"Hey boys! Look who's here for the first time in eight years!"

Luffy blinked but kept staring at the funny looking men. And the men kept staring at him.

"I don't believe it..."

"Is that really-?"

"No way!"

"Is that..."

"Little Luffy, yes." Dadan answered for the boys. She then smiled. "He may be seventeen-year-old, but he's still our littlest!" the woman with orange hair laughed soon followed by the men, who ran from the doorway to hug a very confused Luffy. The teen was hugged, petted, someone was crying and hugging him at the same time, someone actually gave him a big watery kiss on the forehead that Luffy instantly cleaned off. He had thought he would be freaked up, but he actually felt relaxed and happy, like he belonged there. A funny warm wave of nostalgia went over him. He smiled.

"What's going on here?" an unfamiliar voice spoke from the doorway. All men turned to see the man with a blue top-hat in the doorway.  
"Oh hey! It's Sabo!"

"Long time no see."

The man chuckled. He then asked: "Who are you group-strangling? Did Ace come back home?"

"Nope, even better!"

The men got away from Luffy, letting him see the man with a well built chest and blond hair sticking under the top hat. The boy once again tilted his head as he viewed the man feeling that he had seen him somewhere.  
Dadan stared the two lads uneasy. Sure, Sabo was the smarter and calmer one of the two, but she didn't know how he would take this.  
The blond man, Sabo, stared eyes wide the teen on the chair. Messy black hair, blackish-brown eyes, a scar under the left eye, a straw-hat with a red ribbon around it... If this wasn't Luffy, then Sabo had no idea who it was!

"Luffy?!"

"Y-yeah?"

"Oh my God! It really is you!"

With a yelp, Luffy was once again in someone embrace. The top-hat man was hugging him tightly but carefully. The teen felt warm, warmer than before. His chest felt warm and he was happy. He didn't know why but this man was very important to him.  
"Gah!"  
Luffy was lifted from his seat and this Sabo was spinning around with him, laughing joyously. Sabo stopped and gave the final squeeze to the boy as he let go. He viewed the kid from toes to head and back. He snickered.  
"You actually have grown!"

Everything was spinning in Luffy's eyes. He stumbled a little but found his balance. Ugh, he felt sick. Oh hey, double everything!

"Sabo—" Dadan tried put in before anything bad could happen. She was mostly afraid of the young man's reaction when he'd find out about Luffy's loss of memories.  
Sabo was three and half years older than Luffy, he was two heads taller and had short blond hair. He was the most patient one of the three brothers, which made him the eldest brother. He likes to be reasonable with things and take things slowly as he considered the pros and cons. After Luffy was gone, it took a lot of strength from Sabo to help his _other brother_ to keep his sanity.

"Luffy, you have no idea how I missed you! My sweet little brother, how much I've missed you since **that** day eight years ago. I must apologize for not taking contact with you, but Dadan strictly forbid us to meet you or take any connect with you..." the blond in the blue top-hat ruffled the raven hair and let out a hearty laugh as the younger boy let out an annoyed mumble.

"Sabo."  
Finally, the man turned his attention to his foster mother with the brightest smile she had last seen eight years ago.  
"Yes, Dadan?"

"We need to talk. It's about Luffy."

* * *

"He has _what_?!" Sabo exclaimed slamming his hands on the table.

"You heard me: Luffy has amnesia." Dadan took a sip straight from the sake bottle Luffy had brought with him. She knew that explanation wasn't easy but it was best for him to know. The other family members sat on the dining room's floor and stared the youngest with pure disbelief. Luffy felt uneasy under their gaze, he changed his position on the chair once again. Sabo turned his head towards his little brother.

"So, you're saying that he doesn't remember who I am – who we are?"

"Exactly."

"Then... what can he remember?"

"Only the past eight years. Like I told you then, Garp found him unconscious from the edge of the woods and took him to the hospital. When Luffy woke up he didn't even recognize Garp nor that Zoro-boy, the only good thing was that he still remembered his name." the woman took a large gulp from the bottle. The men on the floor murmured something to each other. Sabo lowered his head.

"So, he really doesn't remember..." the man held his head with both of his hands leaning his arms against the table. He took a shaky breath and exhaled. So it was that serious? If only they'd been there then, maybe they'd have saved their brother.

"Did Garp say anything about the cause of the accident?" one of the men asked with a soft voice. Dadan shook his head.

"He believes that Luffy fell and hit his head. Strange enough there was no bump, only blood and a cut, from something sharp. But he didn't think that a simple cut would cause the amnesia so he thought that Luffy got it when he fell and then hit his head to the ground."

'_A cut?'_ Sabo blinked.  
"Where was the cut located?" the man in the top-hat lifted his blue eyes from the table to meet Dadan's brown ones.

"That he didn't say, or at least I don't remember."

Sabo narrowed his eyes.  
Something wasn't right here. On that day, Luffy wasn't climbing in the trees. They had stayed on the ground, exploring the caves near-by Dadan's house. Sabo turned his eyes back to Luffy, who was playing with a lady bug.  
"Luffy?"

The boy was startled. He had been feeling so uneasy under the family's eyes and being treated as he was not in the room as they talked about him. He had been spacing out when the familiar lady bug scuttled on the table in front of him and he started to play with it. "Y-yes?"

"Do you have a scar somewhere else than on your left cheek?"

"Huh? Oh yeah!" he hadn't been paying any attention to the conversation after that Sabo-guy had slammed his hand on the table so he didn't know why it was so important them to know about his scar.

"Where?"

Luffy raised his right hand and moved some from hair from his right temple. There were three thin lines; they began from the corner of his right eye and ended somewhere under the thick and messy black hair. Sabo took the boy's chin between his index finger and thumb then examined the scars very closely. They were very faint and seemed to be caused by something really sharp, like...  
The realization hit Sabo like a lightning. He knew where Luffy got these marks.

Sabo had to see his _other brother_, **now**.

"Lucky thing for you is that they're highly invisible. Has anyone noticed them?" the boy shook his head and smiled.  
"Nobody, only Zoro and Gramps know about those."  
The blond man smiled back and then messed the boy's hair some more. Luffy giggled.

"Speaking about Zoro, what time is it?"

"Half past five, why?"

Luffy sat up from where he was sitting with a horrified expression on his face. "It's almost dinner time! I promised Zoro to be home by dinner!" The boy rushed to the counter jumping over the men, who were still sitting on the floor. He grabbed the basket and made his way to the hallway only to be stopped by Sabo.

"I'll guide you through the forest."

"Okay, but hurry! Zoro is strict about dinner times, last time I was only five minutes late and he wouldn't let me have any dessert!"

Sabo laughed and patted the younger boy on his back. "Sure sure, let's go."

At the end of the hallway Luffy halted and seemed to think about something, then he turned around and yelled: "Thanks for today Dadun! I'll make sure to visit you again sometime soon!"

"It's **Dadan**! And be sure to keep that promise or else we will hunt you down." the woman yelled back, some of the men were laughing. _'How I've missed this...'_

Sabo chuckled along with Luffy and pushed the teen through the doorway to the darkening meadow.

* * *

When the two of them stepped in to the dark forest, Sabo took Luffy's hand in his own. This reminded the boy from the other person from before.  
"Sabo?"

"Yes?"

"Does someone else live in this forest, other than Da-"

"Dadan", Sabo chuckled. "Well, animals along with birds and insects..."

"That's not what I meant... I meant a human. When I was on my way to Dadan's a man helped me through the forest when I got lost. I gave him a cupcake in return. He said that his name was... _Ace_?" Luffy wasn't sure about the name, but it felt right on his tongue.

"I don't-"

"And then the men at Dadan's place said that they saw this Ace-guy coming from her house. So who is this Ace?"

Still continuing his travel on the path, Sabo took a deep breath. Could he tell Luffy about the second brother? Was he ready to hear about Ace? A lot of things had happened during this day and Sabo wasn't sure if Luffy could handle so much knowledge about his past during this one day. Maybe he could start with light information.

"Ace is our brother."

"Brother?"

"Yes Luffy. When we were kids, we made a promise upon a cup of sake that we'd be brothers forever. I was the oldest, Ace was the second and you were the youngest", Sabo let the information sink before continuing his tale. He took a shaky breath.  
"When you disappeared, it hit Ace harder than the rest of us. He wanted to go out and find you, it took me a lot of strength and effort to keep him inside the house. He was completely devastated when you stopped coming, he nearly went completely berserk. He left us a year after your accident, he now lives here."

"You mean... In this forest?"

"Yes."

"With the wild animals? He could be in danger!"

'_Oh no my dear brother, he is the danger itself'_, Sabo merely chuckled.  
"He's fine, he can take good care of himself. Nothing can beat him, he's the strongest person I know."

"Nice to know you have that much trust in me, _big brother_."

Sabo stopped dead on track. He stared two red orbs few meters away from them, he could see the white teeth as the man in front of them smirked at them. Luffy was totally oblivious to the whole situation since he didn't see anything, because of the darkness and because Sabo's back was in the way. He wanted to call out the man, but something told him to stay very, very quiet.

"Ace."

"Sabo."

The tension between the two of them was unnerving. Sabo didn't know what to say to his brother and to make things more difficult, he was hiding their little brother behind his back. The very same brother, who went missing eight years ago and caused Ace to lose himself to the darkness in his heart. But Sabo also knew that Luffy was the only one to drag Ace out of the nightmare he was in.

"I see you're hiding something from me, brother."

"Ace, I-"

"Or should I say some_**one**_."

"Ace, please. Let me explain!"

"No excuses! He left us! He left us alone because he saw us as monsters!"

"No Ace, it wasn't like that!" Sabo's grip on Luffy's hand hardened. He wanted to keep this boy safe. Now wasn't the right time to let these two meet and catch up. Ace had gone berserk again. Fury had taken over his body and soul, Sabo could see it in his eyes. The only thing to do was to flee. Sabo turned his head to his side and watched the smaller boy behind him with the corner of his eye. The boy was confused and a little scared. Unlike him and Ace, Luffy couldn't see in the dark. The only things he saw were two flaming red orbs. Sabo weighted the possibilities: to flee with Luffy and save him from Ace sounded the best option at the moment. He could deal with Ace later but he had the get the boy out of the forest. Now.

What happened next was all too flurry to Luffy. First he was standing behind Sabo, trying to see who he was talking to. Everything was filled with darkness and the air was all of a sudden chilly again. When he saw the two blood red orbs he whimpered and hid behind Sabo's back. He had never seen eyes that scary. Wait, eyes? How could someone's eyes be so red and be seen in the dark? Luffy's mind was filled with many more questions when he saw Sabo glancing towards him. Two clear blue eyes. They were as clear and the red ones but not as horrifying. They were filled with sadness and pain.  
Just... What on Earth was going?!  
Before he could register, Sabo had taken him into his arms and ran. Luffy squeezed his eyes shut and hugged the man around his neck. The blond man was running with an incredible speed. The young boy had no idea what was happening and he didn't dare to ask from Sabo since the man was too busy concentrating on escaping.  
Who was that man? He sounded awfully familiar. Sabo had called the man "Ace", so could he be the Ace? The very same Ace who had helped Luffy earlier and was supposed to be his older brother?

Luffy didn't know and his head had started to hurt once again. He winced in pain. He had completely forgotten to eat and he had nothing to ease the pain. Oh, how much the boy with the straw-hat wished to be at home right now. In his room, smelling the delicious aroma of Zoro's cooking and...

Sabo was startled with a groan from the smaller boy in his arms. He looked down and found Luffy looking like he was in great pain.  
"Luffy, are you alright?"

"M-my head... It feels like it's going to explode..."

'_Another migraine attack?' _earlier, when they had been discussing about Luffy's condition, the boy had mentioned that after the incident he got migraine attacks, and that he had already had one this morning.  
Sabo knew what migraine was and what it meant. That is why he increased his speed. He had to get Luffy back home before the pain was too unbearable.  
"Just few more minutes, Luffy. You can make it."

'_Please you have to make it. Not for me, but for Ace!'_

* * *

_**[AN:] Hello! It's me again~**_

Yes, Luffy has migraine, which is not a nice thing. I know because I kinda have it... And my stepdad has it. Not a beautiful thing, not at all.  
**So sorry for the delay. I've been very busy for the last two months. My high school kinda ended just now. Last Matriculation examinations were **_**in last month, then I visited London with my parents and had some school work to finish.** **Well anyway: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELRIDER13!  
This fic shall be continued now that I have more than time, same thing with the 'Sleepless Beauty'-fic. I'm terribly sorry my lovely and patient readers! (I love you! )**_

Another thing, I've been planning three other fanfics along with this and 'Sleepless Beauty'. I've been making some notes about my "marvellous" ideas. Two are ready but the third one is not. (=3=) and I'm having some troubles with submitting stuff here, meff..  
I've also got addicted to few another fandoms (Pokémon, Kingdom Hearts...) and just yesterday I received my One Piece Pirate Warriors on PS3! 8D WHAT A LOVELY BIRTHDAY PRESENT! (my b-day is on Sunday the 7th of April, yay..)

So, yeah. I hope I'll see you soon my lovelies! :D I love you all~


	2. Chapter 2: Friend

Omg... I'm terribly sorry for the delay. :(  
I got caught in my own world and new fandom. (who'd have thought that Pokémon could be so addicting.) Plus I had a little drama in my personal life. But I shall promise you my lovelies, that I shall update this soon!  
I must also thank you all for the positive reviews I've received. It really helped me and cheered me up! :3 Thank you! *hugs everyone*  
I'm a bit disappointed by the length of this one but the next one shall be longer.  
**Once again: NO BETA AND POSSIBLE OOC-ness.** If you have a problem with that, here have this kitten.

* * *

**- Little Red Riding Hood -**

**~ samettikettu**

**Chapter 2. **

**Friend**

* * *

Zoro had just finished cooking dinner when he heard the door bell. The clock was almost six, so he thought it was Luffy.  
_'Forgot his keys again'_, the man with green hair sighed.  
But when he opened the front door, he met two familiar blue eyes.

"_Sa-Sabo_?"

"Good evening", the man in top-hat walked past the green-haired one with a rush. Zoro stared after the man. Was that... Luffy in his arms?

Sabo went straight to Luffy's room. How he knew which room was the boy's? Let's say was an instinct.  
He laid the boy on his bed and pulled a comforter over him. When the two had exited the forest Luffy had lost his consciousness. He still wore the pained face he had in forest.  
"A migraine, huh."

"So you were reunited."

Sabo sighed and sat down on the bed. He looked up to meet two pair of green eyes. Zoro stood by the door way, eyeing warily the other man.  
"Roronoa Zoro, it has been too long", Sabo grinned.

At that, Zoro exhaled and relaxed. Leaning against the door, he folded his arms then smirked right back at the boy.  
"It has, yeah." He became more serious. "What happened?"

Sabo frowned.  
"He got a migraine attack while we were passing through the forest. Just when we got out, he passed out."

Zoro nodded.  
"Did he eat anything at Dadan's?" Sabo shook his head. Zoro sighed, that explains it.

"Well, he will be out cold till tomorrow morning. And I just finished preparing food..."

"Do these attacks happen often?" Sabo turned to face the sleeping boy. He brushed some hair out of Luffy's face, feeling the forehead burning hot. "He has a fever."

"Yes, it happens sometimes when he gets migraine. Don't worry, enough sleep and rest will help him. At least for now."

"For now?"

"Yes", Zoro moved from the doorway and took a chair next to Luffy's bed, next to Sabo. He folded his again and leaned back.  
"Luffy's condition has gone worse. He gets migraine more often and they're getting worse. Medication won't work and he's suffering from sleeplessness, which only makes him to get narcoleptic attacks."

Sabo bit down on his lower lip. This serious, huh? His little brother was suffering...

"This has been going on every since that day he woke up from the hospital bed eight years ago. It wasn't this bad before. We have no idea what's happening and Garp is getting pretty worried, and so am I."

Luffy made a small whimpering sound causing Sabo to turn back to him and brush his hand against the younger boy's dark hair.  
Zoro rubbed his temples.  
He didn't know what to think about Sabo's sudden appearance. Sure, he was happy to see an old friend but he was also worried.  
Sabo and Luffy had sweared upon the "_Sacred sake cup_" to be brothers, along with **_him_**. They were inseparable, the three of them. Where were Sabo and Luffy, was Ace. And where was Ace, was trouble.

The silence filled the room, only Luffy's hard breathing was heard. Zoro was too afraid to ask about Ace, but he had to know!  
"Sabo, about Ace-"

"He almost attacked us in the woods", the top-hatted man said bluntly.  
"He's completely taken over by the darkness in his heart. Unlike some of us, he doesn't have any faith in humanity. Were they family or friends."

Zoro nodded, he was afraid of that. He had once tried to visit the two brothers after the accident, in order to explain why Luffy couldn't go back to his brothers, and to ask if the duo knew anything what happened. When he had gotten to the forest he had seen Ace.  
The boy had changed and acted differently from before. His eyes were flaming from anger and it seemed like he wanted to attack Zoro. More like _kill_. He had become a monster, a beast. And to think that Luffy had met him today, Zoro shivered.

"-that still doesn't explain why he helped Luffy through the forest to Dadan's." Sabo sighed.

"What?"

"My thoughts exactly."

"Maybe he didn't recognize him?"

"Probably."

The two sat in silence again.  
They really didn't have anything else in common than Luffy: Sabo was Luffy's brother and Zoro Luffy's childhood friend and best friend.  
When they were kids, Zoro would follow his friend to the forest where they'd meet the other two. Luffy was the one who introduced Zoro to Sabo and Ace. The green-haired boy hadn't trusted the two kids then to let them play alone with Luffy, but after some time he had to admit that his best friend was in good hands. They were just like brothers.  
They would help each other out and comfort one another.  
No, Zoro wasn't jealous back then. He was glad that Luffy had other friends than him, because as a kid he rarely has time to play with his friend. Since his goal had been, and still was, becoming the World's number one Swordsman, he had to train a lot. It was exhausting but totally worth it.  
When Luffy had told him about his first visit at Dadan's and how he met two fun boys there, Zoro was happy for him. But as said earlier, Zoro first had to see if the two boys were decent company for the naive and obvious boy. After that he'd allow Luffy to hang out with them.

"So, what now?" Sabo scratched his cheek. He felt a bit awkward just sitting here in a complete silence. Maybe he should get going? He had a furious little brother to deal with. Sabo could still remember the anger and hatred in Ace's eyes.

"Hmm, well..."  
Zoro thought aloud. He was grateful for Sabo to bring his friend back home.  
"How about if you stay for a dinner? Luffy isn't waking up any time soon."

"Are you sure it's okay?"

"It's okay. You saved Luffy, this the only possible way to thank you. Besides I don't think that you have had a proper meal for a long time." Zoro stood up and place the chair back to its usual place. Sabo stood up as well but seemed to hesitate. He didn't think it was a good idea to stay there for a dinner. True, he hadn't had a decent meal for a long, long time but the idea of dining with this human was troubling.

"Are you sure? I mean, Zoro is this okay for you?" Sabo followed Zoro to the room's door.

"Sabo, it's alright. For tonight, let's forget our differences and be like in the old days."

"If you say so..." the man in a top-hat gazed back into the room and smiled. He was so happy that his brother was back. Sabo closed the door.  
Luffy had had enough suspense for today. Sabo didn't want him to see or hear anything he wasn't ready for. At least not yet.

* * *

When Sabo came to kitchen, Zoro was taking something from the fridge. The blond male noticed a door with a sign "Toilet" on it. Blinking, he went in. As a good guest he was, he'd wash his hands before going to the table.  
Sabo avoided the mirror. He already knew he was a mess.

Zoro had opened a beer bottle. Sabo raised his brows at the sight.  
"You drink?"

"Yeah. Been a stressful day", Zoro offered the other man one but Sabo shook his head in denial.

"I don't blame you."

"Then don't blame yourself either." Zoro took a gulp of his drink. The blond male shook his head again and chuckled. Then they both sat down, Sabo gazed the food.  
"Woah! Do you cook this amount of food every night?"

"Luffy eats a lot."

_'Yeah, I can see that...'_ Sabo scratched his cheek. He noticed Zoro eyeing him.  
"Keeping that hat on?" the green-haired male pointed the top-hat with an amused smile.  
"You sure?"

"You're not like others. I wouldn't have let you hang out with Luffy if you were."

"Like you'd know how it is to hide your identity."

"Actually, I do."

Once again, Zoro had a point. Sabo sighed but removed his hat. Underneath it, two light brown twitched. Finally some space! It had been pretty cramped up under that hat and Sabo had nearly caught a headache.  
He placed the blue hat gently next to him on table and looked Zoro. The man only nodded in acknowledgement. Sabo let a small relieved smile creep upon his lips. It wasn't easy to be a wolf disguised as a human. He had to hide his ears and tail underneath his clothes, which was easy. But to hide his blue eyes wasn't. Since he was a wolfman, he was provided with the gift of nigh vision. It had pros and cons, but the bad thing was that once in dark his would glow in their blue colour and show his true identity. That was why he wore sun glasses whenever he had to visit the town.  
He also had sharp teeth and nails but unlike cat beasts they weren't as sharp or threatening.

"This is kind of ironic, don't you think?" Sabo smirked showing his perfect, white teeth. Zoro raised a brow.  
"The hunter having a dinner with the big bad wolf, while the little Red Riding Hood sleeps in the other room."

Zoro snorted. It was kind of ironic and funny.  
"Shut your mouth and dig in. I can always change my mind about you."

As in reply, Sabo took a big bite out of the steak that was lying on his plate.

It didn't take long for Sabo finish his plate. And as Zoro gave him the permission to re-fill his plate he did so - seven times. The dishes were empty but Sabo wasn't, he was full. For the first time in weeks, no months, he was full.  
He leaned back on the chair and patted gently his stuffed stomach. Zoro wanted to laugh but he was too cool for that, instead he flashed an amused smirk.  
"I take that as a compliment that the food was satisfying?"

"Oh yes. It was excellent! The best I've had in months! Maybe years. I'm glad that Luffy has a great cook as his best friend, no wonder he likes you so much."

"Well, someone had to learn how to cook since he has the ability to blow everything up - literally."

"You see your friendship with him as a responsible?"

"Well not exactly, I mean", Zoro leaned his elbow against the table top and thought.  
"I'm responsible of him because Garp isn't here to look after him and he doesn't have any other living relative. Since I was his childhood friend and he refused to leave my side, Garp thought that it was for the best for us to live together since I don't have living relatives either."

"How long have you two been living together?"

"Since the end of primary school."

Sabo jerked.  
Since _the end of primary school_?! That... Woah, Sabo was lost of words.  
Zoro seemed to find Sabo's expression amusing but once again instead of showing it, he rose and started to put the dishes to the dishwasher.  
Sabo made a move to help but Zoro shooed him away.  
"You go see Luffy or something, I got this."

Grabbing his hat and thanking for the food, Sabo made his way to Luffy's room, carefully opening the door.  
Inside the room was dark but it didn't bother Sabo. He silently made his way next to the bed and looked down on his sleeping little brother. He seemed more relaxed and after feeling the boy's forehead Sabo was happy to learn that the fever had gone down.  
The man readjusted the comforter and took a while to study his grown up brother.  
Still short and small for his age, hair dark and wild, a small cut under his left eye... Everything was like it used to be.  
Except for that cursed scar on his face. When Sabo's find out who had dared to lay their dirty hands on his little brother, they'd pay. Big time.

_'Now I just have to find Ace and explain to him. Everything.'_ The thought of his stubborn and angry brother made Sabo feel a little anxious. _'Oh Ace, why can't you give us a chance?'_

Looking back down on his youngest brother, Sabo smiled. He hadn't lost everything yet. There was hope.  
As kids Ace and Luffy had had a special bond that Sabo couldn't understand, but when Ace was angry or sad, it was Luffy who managed to make him smile and laugh again. A truly special bond indeed. Now Sabo just hoped that the bond hadn't faltered after all these years.

"I have a lot faith in you, little brother. Please, help me this one time."

A final glance at his brother and Sabo left the room, making his way to the front door.

"Leaving already?" Zoro appeared in the hallway and leaned against the wall. Sabo had his hand on the handle. He smiled to Zoro.  
"Yes, I must return to the forest. I have to meet my arrogant little brother."  
Zoro winced. "Ouch."

"Can't be helped."

"I hope you the best of luck and you're always welcome here."

"Thank you, Zoro. Really. For tonight and taking care of my little brother. I'll be forever in your debt", and with that Sabo left. Zoro was a bit dazed by all the sincerity in the man's eyes.  
_'Just don't get yourself killed, okay friend?'_

* * *

The sun had been gone almost an hour when Sabo had made it to the forest. The forest would become darker than it already was and the two different sides would mix together as a one dark forest. If people thought that the forest was creepy during daylight, they should see it in night time when it showed it's true colours: black. During the night, the habitants from the forest's dark side would move to the brighter and then go back when the first flashes from the morning sun were seen.  
Only the weakest habitants would take cover for the night and the stronger ones would stay. They could fight for their lives and protect their homes and families. No, they _would_.

The blond male in a blue top-hat wasn't afraid of the darkness. He was strong, he could fight. He was on a mission. He was meeting someone, they liked it or not. He knew where he could find the person he was looking for. The man sat there every day because it was his spot.

He came up to a small clearing with only a rock standing proudly in it. And on a rock sat the person he was looking for.

"Ace."  
Sharp red eyes locked on him. A smirk appeared on the male's lips. He jumped down from the rock and settled down leaning against it watching the blond male's every move. The smirk was replaced with a blank, yet angry, face.

Sabo stared the man leaning against a rock in front of him. The man was younger than him but seemed older.  
"Ace, we need to talk."

The man addressed as Ace looked at the blond male with a bored expression. He then yawned, revealing his sharp and pointy line of teeth. His black ears were pointing up, letting Sabo know that he was listening but just didn't give a crap about it. His tail was swaying from side to side.  
He only wore loose black shorts, nothing else. He wasn't afraid of showing his true self, he was actually proud of it, proud to be a higher creature than those stinking humans.  
The two humanoid wolves may have looked the same but Ace was a total opposite of Sabo.  
Sabo worked hard to disguise himself. He wore clothes and made sure to hide his 'wolfy-parts'. He wore blue shorts and a blue suit-jacket, which he always kept open. He had been bothered about it at first but when no one complained about it, he let it be. (He had actually received positive comments from ladies, who all liked his worked-up upper body.) He wanted to fit in and hoped that one day humans and humanoid creatures, like himself, could share the daylight in piece.

Ace gave Sabo an annoyed look and stretched, putting his hands behind his head.  
"What do you want."

"I want to talk."

"You're doing it now", Ace yawned again. Sabo fumed. This arrogant little-!

"It's about Luffy."  
Ace hissed at the name. He didn't want to hear that name spoken or even mentioned!  
"How dare you say that name."

"Ace", Sabo took a breath. "He's our brother!"

"He abandoned us and then forgot about us." Ace's voice was strong and sharp. Sabo felt cold.

"That's not how it went..." Sabo shook his head. Ace growled and pinned Sabo down with his cold eyes. He'd have killed Sabo with only one movement but Sabo was family. No matter what the reasons were, Ace didn't hurt his family members. That was why he considered it lucky that the human-boy wasn't his brother, at least not anymore.  
The man with black hair pushed himself off the rock and made his leave. Sabo went after him.  
"Ace! Try to be reasonable with me here!"

No answer.

"If you actually let me explain how it all went. I talked to Luffy himself, and Zoro, you remember Zoro?"

Still no answer.  
Sabo was getting more and more irritated.

"Luffy was in accident eight years ago!"

This caused Ace to stop but he still wouldn't answer. Sabo stopped right behind him.  
"Something attacked him in the woods. He was found from the border unconscious."

Ace didn't react at all but Sabo kept going. "When he woke up in the hospital later, he had forgotten everything. His grandfather, Zoro, Dadan and the gang, you, me... He doesn't remember anything! He has amnesia, Ace. He could barely remember his name."

And now Sabo waited.  
Oh, how he waited for a miracle to happen!  
Ace shifted and... continued walking ahead. Sabo groaned.

"Didn't you hear anything I just said?! It wasn't his fault!"

But Ace had already disappeared to the thick vegetation. Sabo's legs gave out and he sat there on his knees. He was exhausted and stressed out. The man let out a dry chuckle as he massaged his temples.

"Boy that beer would be great now."

* * *

And here you have it. The second chapter of the fic and I promise that the third one will be longer and contain a little back flashy.  
A little bit about Ace was revealed and I'll reveal some more (like what he wears when he sleeps and and..)  
AND **O-M-G** ZORO CAN COOK. _HE CAN ACTUALLY COOK?!_ Now how did that happen?  
_**Do you guys want something special to happen in the future chapters? Leave me a comment.**_

Yes, this fic isn't betaed and OMG stuff.

Hope you guys liked this chappy. :3  
I'll see you guys soon!

~ Ame


	3. Chapter 3:The Pendant

_A little boy in a big red hoodie glanced up to meet the fierce eyes of an older boy. He had a big smile on his face and he let out a giggle. The older boy smirked down at him and folded his arm, pushing his chest forward so he'd look big and tough._

"_Gee, why do you have such big eyes?" the small child in red giggled._

_"So I'd see and watch after you better", the older answered._

_Another childish giggle._

_"Then, what about your ears? Why are they so big?"_

_"So I could hear around me better so I can prevent any danger near us. Also to hear you better", the older boy snorted and widened his grin._

_"Then what about your teeth? Why are they so big and sharp?"_

_The older boy's grin became even wider as he revealed his sharp teeth. "So I'd eat more meat than you do!" the boy laughed._

_"Aaa! No fair!" the younger in red puffed. He stuck out his small pink tongue and made a face to the older boy, who only laughed it off._

_"It's not fair! You're always ahead of me_

_**A**-!"_

_The older boy laughed even harder._

_"Aah! There you go again, making fun of me! I'll tell Sabo..."_

_"Tell me what?" another boy appeared. He stood between the two boys giving them a confused look. The youngest pointed the one, who was trying to collect himself._  
_"_

_**A**- is making fun of me again!"_

_"_

_**A**-! Stop picking on Luffy! He's our little brother!"_

"Buh-But_ you'd have seen his face a while ago! It was so funny and cute!"_

_"I'm not cute! Guys aren't supposed to be cute!" the youngest in red exclaimed throwing his fist into air. The new boy in a blue top-hat palmed his face._  
_"Not this conversation again."_

_The second oldest boy pulled the youngest into a crushing hug. "But he is cute! And so fun to tease! I'm so lucky to have a little brother like you, Luffy."_

_The oldest in a top-hat laughed at the scene. The youngest squirmed in his brother's crushing embrace. He tried to yell and bite but he couldn't get away from the boy. Soon he surrendered and let the boy hug him._  
_He then smiled. No matter how annoying his brother was, he was still his big brother. The world's greatest big brother._

* * *

**- Little Red Riding Hood -**

**~samettikettu**

**Chapter 3. **

**'The pendant'  
**

* * *

Luffy's eyes snapped open and the teen sat up quickly. He held his head and took a deep breath. He felt like his head was exploding. So much new information about himself and his past, it all made his head bound.  
First he met a strange and mysterious man then he met a woman who knew so much about him and his childhood. She knew all the things Luffy had forgotten because of the accident. Then there was this other man - Sabo. The man had triggered something inside his mind, and even though Luffy had no memory of him, he felt a warm and nostalgic when the man was with him.  
What was going on?!

Luffy gazed the clock, seven-thirty.  
_'Woah that's way too early for me!'_ he blinked, trying to see if his sight was messing with him.  
Nope, still seven-thirty.  
The teen groaned. "Okay, fine!"  
With that Luffy threw the comforter off and stood up, stretching. He then froze.

"Hey, hang on... Where's Sabo?"

Luffy remembered the man showing him the way out of the forest. They had been talking about their childhood. Then they met the same strange man, who had helped Luffy to Dadan's earlier. Then... everything was blurry. Luffy didn't remember clearly what had happened there in the forest but Sabo had been with him the whole time. And since he woke up from his own bed, someone had to help him back home.

Luffy doubted that it had been Zoro, since he sucked with directions so bad that it sometimes took him an hour to come home from school. It wouldn't be so bad, if the school wasn't a couple blocks away from them, so it took five minutes to walk from school to home.

_'If it had been Zoro then we'd still be in the forest... No hard feelings, buddy.'_

So it had to be Sabo.  
When Luffy would meet him again he had to thank him.

Looking down, Luffy saw that he was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. So shower it was!

* * *

Luffy had to tip-toe to the bathroom and back since Zoro was still sleeping. Actually, it didn't matter if he had run since Zoro was a heavy sleeper. But Luffy felt like tip-toeing, it was far more exciting and fun!

With a towel around his waist Luffy tried to decide what to wear today. Just when he had found clean underwear and put them on, his phone made a noise.  
"Who could have texted me this early?" he asked from himself and reached for his phone.  
On the screen read "Usopp", and it alone made the boy smile.

_ "Hey! What'cha doing today? Want to hang out with me and the others today? I got an idea that we should gather together one more time before the Spring Break.  
- Usopp  
Ps. Zoro's probably still asleep so would you ask him when he wakes up?"_

Luffy laughed.  
Typical Usopp. He doubted that Usopp had really texted Zoro because everyone knew that Usopp was a bit scared of the green-haired man. He didn't admit because he was a man, bit everyone clearly saw it.

_"Sure! Sounds like fun! How did you know I was awake? And sure I'll ask Zoro!"_ Luffy hit send.

It only took only a while Usopp to answer but the answer made Luffy's eyes grow big as plates.

_"I'm the Great Usopp! Of course I knew you were awake!  
(I'm behind your window.)"_ And then there was a knock on the window.  
Luffy spun around and met two brown eyes and a face with a light blush. Usopp!

Luffy greeted him with a wide smile and pointed him to move to the front door, Usopp nodded. The raven-haired boy skipped to the front door and opened it to his friend, Usopp.  
"Hey Usopp! What are you doing out this early?"

"Well, I spent my night at Franky's because dad had some friends staying over. We built stuff all night!"

"Woah, that sounds cool." Luffy motioned Usopp to come in. The long-nosed boy did as asked. He removed his coat and shoes and followed the other boy to his room. He noticed that Zoro's door was closed.  
"Is Zoro still sleeping?"

"Yeah, it's way too early for him to be awake."

"Oh, I see. Why are you awake then?"

"That's what I want to know as well."

Once in Luffy's room Usopp took his usual place on Luffy's unmade bed. He kept staring at Luffy as in trying to say something telepathically. But instead Luffy gave him a dumb look of 'what'?

"Do you always keep the curtains open when you change? You live on the first floor, for God's sake!" Usopp face-palmed. Luffy looked down on his body.  
Uh-oh.

The teen laughed, Usopp couldn't but to chuckle along. Leave it to Luffy to make the awkward situation lighter.

"But why were you outside of my window?"

Usopp gave him the look of 'are-you-a-complete-idiot'.  
"Franky practically lives next to you, and I saw light in your room so I thought you were awake and came to see."

"Oh, makes sense."

"Well of course it does! Now, would you please put some clothes on?!"

It only took a moment for Luffy to find a clean red t-shit and loose jean shorts.  
"Now that's better!"

"You just read my mind." Usopp agreed from behind a comic book he had found lying on the floor next to the bed. Luffy sat on the bed too.  
"So how's life treating ya? I haven't seen you at school."

Usopp put the book away. "Well, school's good and I have nothing to complain about the things at home. And things with Kaya are super! We've been together for a year and a half now, isn't that cool!"

"Yeah, awesome. So did you ask the others about today?" Luffy played with his straw hat. He was happy for Usopp and Kaya, he just wasn't into the dating-stuff.

"Yeah I did, you can guess that only Nami and Robin answered. They both thought it was a marvelous idea. We agreed to meet at the mall at eleven-thirty and go out for some lunch." Usopp explained. "I came up the idea with Franky. He and Robin are going on to their second honeymoon when the Spring Break starts and will be staying on the Skypea Island for a month. Before leaving, Franky wanted the gang to gather together one more time. He promised to have big party when they get back!"

Franky was a funny man. He had a small, yet a lucrative, shop where he fixed and built all sorts of mechanical things. His shop was called "Franky's House". He was married to Nico Robin, a history teacher at the high school Luffy went. She was mysterious and beautiful woman. All the male teachers thought Franky was a lucky man to be married to her.  
Nami was a unique character. She had both beautiful and powerful persona but she was also scary. She knew how to use men to get what she wanted. The thing she loved more than her boyfriend was money. Every time she saw a beli, she went crazy and did everything to get it - even if it was in someone else's wallet.  
Nami's boyfriend was a master-chef-in-training, Sanji. He loved cooking food for his friends and most of all, he loved women. He was a womanizer until he met Nami, who had him around her finger with only one wink. He and Zoro were always fighting about stupid things.  
And last but not least was Brook. He was the eldest of their group but also the liveliest. He was a music teacher at Luffy's school.

"Hey, what about Brook?" Luffy blinked. Had Usopp completely forgotten about their awesome musician?!

"Oh yeah, he agreed as well."

"Great!" Luffy let out a content sigh. Usopp had him worried there for a while.

"Do you have any plans for the Spring Break?" the curly-haired boy asked. Luffy shook his head.  
"Zoro's going on some camp-thingy so I'm alone for the whole two weeks."

"Aw, too bad."

"How about you?" Luffy stared Usopp with big eyes, full of hope that the boy'd spend the Break with him. Usopp smiled sadly.  
"Sorry Luffy, I'm going home to help out the Old man with his store. Kaya will come too. My Mom's thrilled to see her again."

Luffy let out a long, deep sigh. Well of course. He pouted a little. So unfair! Everyone else had plans for the vacation except for him!  
Usopp patted his friend's back.  
"Hey, don't worry! Maybe Brook, Sanji and Nami are staying, you should ask them!"

All the hope and eagerness returned to Luffy's eyes.  
"Yeah, maybe!"

They spent another half an hour talking about stuff that had happened recently. Luffy kept the whole forest-thing to himself. Going to the woods was off-limits for people's own safety and he knew that Usopp would over-react if he found out.  
After chatting, Luffy looked at the clock on the nightstand again, ten past eight. _'Still that early?'_

"Usopp, want to grab something to eat? I'm starving!"

"You always are", the boy had grabbed the comic book again and was reading it.  
"Yeah but I didn't get a chance to eat last night and now I'm starving!"

"Uh, okay?"

Usopp followed the boy to the kitchen. He sat at the table and continued reading. It was a great comic! It had adventures, humor, crazy yet brave pirates... _'I wish I could be as brave as that funny captain.'_

"Hey, do you want something?"

"Yeah, some juice and a cheese-sandwich would be great", the teen said behind the book.  
Luffy fixed Usopp some orange juice (they also had apple juice but it was Luffy's and he didn't share food) and the sandwich. The teen thanked and started to eat, eyes still glued to the comic book.  
For himself Luffy poured apple juice and made four meat-cheese-meat-sandwiches.

After eating, Luffy gazed at the kitchen wall clock. It was nine.  
_'Seriously! How slowly can time go?!'_ frustrated, Luffy slumped on the table and stared the dirty dishes. It seemed that Zoro had someone to eat the dinner with, but who?  
_'Wait... If Sabo was the one who helped me back home last night, then maybe he stayed over for dinner?'_ Luffy wondered. Then again, Dadan'd said that Sabo and Zoro knew each other through Luffy, so he wouldn't be too surprised if Sabo had truly stayed for dinner.

"Usopp, let's play video games! Put that comic down already. I can lend it to you."

"Okay."

The next hours were a blur. At some point Zoro woke up and came in the living room, complaining the noise the two boys were making.  
He received a blank stare from Luffy and a horrified scream from Usopp, who hid under the coffee table. The curly-haired boy kept murmuring something about awakening the dragon and he was sorry.  
Luffy laughed.

"Hey Zoro! We're going to meet the gang today so get ready!"

Zoro blinked. "When?"

"We're meeting the others at eleven-thirty at the mall and then go and get something to eat", came the answer underneath the table.  
Zoro glanced the clock and sighed. Ten-forty-five. He still had time to get himself ready.

"I'll take a shower", Zoro exited the room.  
Luffy followed.  
Usopp was left alone in the living room. He let out the breath he had been holding after he had answered Zoro's question.  
_"- and so the brave and unbelievable Captain Usopp scared off the big and bad dragon! The green reptile ran away with its tail between its legs._"

* * *

"Hey, Zoro?"

Luffy leaned against the closer door inside the bathroom. Zoro 'hmm'd while taking of his t-shirt he had slept with.

"I don't... What..."

The green-haired man turned around to meet his best friend's confused stare.

"How did I get home last night?"

"So, you don't remember?"

"I, well... I remember something, but there are things that I'm not entirely sure about."

"What do you remember?"

Luffy folded his arms and tilted his head to the side, and thought.  
What did he remember?  
Well, he remembered meeting people who knew him from the time before he had forgotten everything. They were great and Luffy felt bad for forgetting them.  
He had also met Sabo - a man, few years older than him, who was his older brother. Not by blood but by a deep bond and a promise.

Luffy smiled.  
When he had been with the man, and now thought about him, it felt somehow nostalgic, warm, made him happy.

Then, Luffy had to go home. Sabo had insisted to help him go through the forest.  
There they talked, or Sabo talked. Mainly about him, them and... Some other man, who Luffy didn't remember.

Everything was blurry after that.  
He remembered loud voices, running and a pair of red orbs, staring deep into his soul. They had actually scared the shit out of him. The red orbs contained so much hatred and grudge and it felt like it was all towards him.

Luffy shivered.

Zoro saw this.

"What do you remember?" Zoro repeated.

"I remember leaving Dadan's house with Sabo. We walked through the forest, him leading the way. Then..."

Luffy blinked. Then _what_?

"I think something happened. I remember voices talking, yelling. I saw red eyes staring at me like wanting to tear me apart and andtheneverythincameblurryandandI-"

"Luffy!"

Pair of green eyes stared straight down at Luffy's brown ones. His speech had become so frantic and Zoro couldn't make anything out of it, and Luffy had forgotten to breath.  
The green-haired man held the smaller boy by his shoulders.

"Take it easy. Take a deep breath",  
Luffy followed his demonstration,  
"- and let it out."  
The boy obeyed.  
They did this for a couple more times before Zoro let go of his friend.

"So, you remember coming back _with Sabo_ and then you met someone but you don't know who. Something happened and everything after that is blurry to you?"

A nod.

"You don't remember getting home and going straight to bed?"

A shake of head.

"You don't remember getting out of the forest?"

Luffy shook his head again.  
"It was so dark and..."

"Hey", Zoro slammed his hand on Luffy's head and ruffled his hair. The boy whined and tried to push the hand away.  
"No need to worry, it's in the past now. The main thing is that you are safely at home."

Luffy smiled a little.

"But what about Sabo?"

"Sabo?"

"Yeah! The tall man with a blue top-hat! He wore a blue suit - well actually it was ripped and the jacket was open. I don't think he could close it anymore... Of and he wore this funny white tie-thingy around his neck."

Zoro sweat-dropped.  
Luffy's image of Sabo was pretty accurate. _'Leave it to Luffy to make everybody sound like freaks...'_

"He stayed here for a while and then went home."

"Did you guys eat?"

"Uhh.., yeah?"

"... Great! He seemed like he was starving!" the boy beamed.

Zoro swallowed.  
He had expected something worse. Luffy was known from not sharing his food.

"But Zoro", the addressed man shivered by the tone used to say his name.

"You owe me a big dinner", and with that Luffy left the bathroom, humming a song he had just come-up. Zoro stared the closed door.  
But he didn't have any money left!

* * *

Luffy had gone to his room. He remembered that he had left something _really important _there, but he didn't remember what.

His treasured hat was on the bed, and as far he remembered, it was the only treasured possession he had. But the thing he was looking for felt like it was as important as the hat was, so why didn't he remember what it _was_ or what it _looked like_!?

Luffy groaned and threw a blue shirt to the ground.  
He blinked.  
Had he been going through his closet just now?

Another groan.  
He sometimes hated this amnesia-thing. A lot!

"Hey, Luffy?" Usopp's head appeared to the doorway. He took in the shape of his friend's room.  
"What are you looking for?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Or at least I don't remember."

"You don't ..." Usopp face-palmed. Sometimes his friend could be such a goof.

"I only remember that it means a lot to me."

"Your hat is on the bed."

"It's not that."

Usopp sat on the bed, carefully not sitting anywhere close to the hat.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know", Luffy knew that he sounded stupid to Usopp but he hadn't told to his friend about his amnesia. The only persons that knew about were Zoro, Gramps and the school nurse.  
He had thought that his past didn't matter to them but he had failed to notice that his memory loss would affect his everyday life as well. It wasn't always this disorientating as it was now.

Luffy emptied another self in the closet. The top one was still full of clothes, it was the next victim.  
"Usopp, bring me that chair will you?"

"Okay."

Usopp steadied the chair while Luffy climbed on it. The boy threw clothes to the floor then halted. He dropped the last piece of clothing from his hand and reached for something that was far from his reach on the self.  
He caught it.

"What is it?"

Luffy climbed down and sat on the chair, Usopp standing behind him. They both stared a small pirate-chest on Luffy's hands.

"Looks like a jeweler box."

"It's cool! Open it, open it!"

The smaller boy opened the box and Usopp gasped.  
"Cool."

Inside the chest was a golden necklace.  
Luffy took the necklace and gave the chest to Usopp. The necklace was pretty. It had a pendant hanging from it. The boy turned it around, a happy smiley-face greeted him.  
Luffy smiled and put it on, smiley-face facing the world.

"Woah! This is awesome!"  
Usopp gasped. Luffy turned his head to see what was happening behind him.

Apparently there had been something else inside the chest. What Luffy thought was a black pillow for the necklace, appeared to be black... _Flag_?

"This is a pirate flag with ASL on it. And on the background is a cross bone. How cool is this!"

Luffy stared the flag, his last night's dream rushed back to him.  
_'__**A**__?'  
_  
"Hey guys! It's almost eleven-thirty! We should go or the crappy cook and the witch will tear us apart." Zoro yelled from the hallway. Usopp laid the flag on Luffy's bed ran to put his shoes on before the green dragon would barbeque him.  
Luffy still stood there and stared where the flag had been seconds ago.

That flag was too familiar, and the pendant too. They both made the same warm and fuzzy feeling, just like Sabo did.

Luffy took a fist full of hair in his hands and pulled. WHAT WAS GOING ON!? Why didn't he remember anything about these things and yet they were all so familiar to him!?

"Luffy! We're going without you!"

The brown-haired teen snapped out of his day dream and grabbed his hat before rushing to his friends.

* * *

"You three are late, again!" yelled an orange-haired woman. Her boyfriend lit up a cigarette, smirking smugly to the green-haired man, who answered to this with an unsuitable hand sign.

"We are sorry... We had to wait for Luffy! He was spacing out again."

"I don't care who you had to wait for! The thing is that you are late **again**!"  
Usopp hid behind Luffy, who was too busy staring a butterfly with his eyes.

"Ah, Ms Nami. Isn't the most important part the fact that they are here now? Let's go to eat something, we are all hungry." a woman with black hair smiled sweetly to her companions.

"Thank you Robin!"

Nami pfth'd. This wasn't over yet.

"That also means you two."  
Sanji and Zoro gave each other's the last mean look before turning around. A large man with a strange blue haircut high-fived with Usopp.  
"Franky! Did you get any sleep after I left?"

"Nah, I boosted myself with Cola so I'm ready to go!"  
The woman next to him chuckled.  
Robin and Franky.

The girl with orange-hair said something to her boyfriend, who nodded to her.  
Nami and Sanji.

Luffy, Zoro and Usopp himself... They were missing someone.

"Where's Brook?" Luffy asked. He had come back from the Butterfly Land.  
Just then a familiar laugh reached their ears.

"Yohohoho! Lady, you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Would you mind showing me your underwear?"

Then there was a scream and an old man with an impressive afro flew next to Franky's feet. He had a big, red bruise on his cheek.

"Yo, Brook. Still alive, I see." Franky chuckled, helping the eldest on his feet.

"Yohohoho! Hello to you all!"

Nami face-palmed.  
"Just where does Luffy find these guys?"

Luffy only beamed.  
"Now, let's eat! I'm starving!"

The gang made their way to the one restaurant they knew could satisfy Luffy's hunger. Baratie, an _All You Can Eat_ -place and Sanji's work place. Lucky for him that today was his day off.

Taking their usual place, the gang started to chat about stuff that had happened recently.

Luffy smiled and watched how Sanji and Zoro had started another fight. He burst into laughter when Nami poured her glass of water on them.  
"Stop it already! We haven't seen each other for a while and you guys start to fight immediately when you meet! Seriously, I can't wait for the Spring Break."

"Ah, Ms Nami, what have you planned for the vacation?" Robin asked with a sweet smile.

"Me and Sanji are going to my place to help Nojiko with Bell-Mère's tangerine garden."

"How splendid! Would you mind bringing a few tangerines when you come back?"

"Of course, but don't think that I won't charge you!"

Everyone else sweat-dropped, except Robin who smiled and nodded.

"What about you, Robin?"

"We are going to our second honeymoon to the Skypea Island. It's going to be lovely."

"Yeah, I can't wait!" Franky took a huge gulp of his Cola.

"Guess what me and Kaya are going to do!? We're going to my place! My Mom's all psyched up that Kaya's coming."

"That's cute. Where is Kaya by the way?"

"She went to meet her friends. She sent you guys a lot of love."

"Now there is a sweet girl, Usopp. Don't let her run away from you, ya hear me?"

"Believe me Franky, I won't."

A waiter came to their table and informed that the food table was ready. Luffy was the first one to bolt from his seat to the table.

* * *

"Seriously Luffy, you ate the whole restaurant!"

"No I didn't, it's not even possible. I don't eat wood. Blegh, it tastes bad."

Sanji's right eye twitched from irritation. "I meant ... Ah, why bother."

Nami patted her boyfriend's back, murmuring "There, there", Luffy only shrugged.

"So, back to the conversation before we began to eat", Robin took an elegant sip from her coffee.  
They had gathered to a small Coffee house at the other side of the mall.

"Brook, what have you planned for the Spring Break?"

"Whale watching."

"Oh, anything else?"

"Write a song about Laboon."  
Laboon was Brook's whale friend. Funny but it was true. When Brook had been a young man, he was a sailor. When his crew had been coming back from an unnamed destination, they had noticed a baby whale following them. The whale swam after them and when Brook retired he had promised Laboon that he'd visit it every year. The whale loved his music.

"That's cool Brook! Say hi from me." Luffy exclaimed, mouth full of chocolate cake.  
Zoro sighed.  
"Look at you, face full of chocolate." the green-haired man took his napkin and grabbed Luffy's face so he couldn't run away.  
"Meh, Zorooo..."

"Luffy, sit", which he did.  
He sat there completely still till Zoro had cleaned his face.  
"There."

Sanji smirked and chuckled darkly.  
"Well wasn't that sweet of you."

"Zip it, Dart brow."

"What about you Zoro? Any plans for the Spring Break?" Nami asked before a fight could be born.

"I have a kendo camp", the man answered and decided to ignore the blond man who was making kissy-faces.  
When he and Sanji first met, he knew that their everyday life would be like this. He didn't like Sanji and Sanji didn't like him.  
The man found it funny how much Zoro looked after his roommate and best friend.

All attention now turned to Luffy, who was staring at himself from a spoon.  
"Luffy?"

"Nah?" the boy put the spoon down and looked up to Nami with a smile.

"Plans for the vacation?"

And the smile was gone. Luffy folded his arms on the table and put his head on them.  
"Nope."

Zoro felt a bang of quilt hit him.

"Zoro's going to go on that camp-thingy, Usopp's going home and you guys are going wherever you said you were. And Gramps is going to visit at the end of this month so, meh. Just gonna be all by myself for the next couple of week." Luffy stretched.

"Are you sure that you're going to be alright?" Brook asked.  
Luffy smiled.  
"Yeah! I'm gonna play videogames all night long!"

"You remember to eat, right?" Sanji asked.  
Luffy gave him a blank look.  
"How could I forget to eat?"

"Aren't you going to get lonely?" Nami and Usopp asked in unison, startling each other.

Luffy smiled.  
He loved his friends.  
"No, I can always call you guys if I get lonely!"

His friends all nodded. Zoro slower than the others.

"Oh, Luffy?"

"What Robin?"

"I've meant to ask the whole day but I forgot. Where did you get that cute necklace?" Robin pointed the smiley-pendant.  
Luffy raised his hand and touched it with his fingertips.

"I found it this morning."

Nami bent over the table to see it more closely. Her eyes sparkled.  
"Is that.. It's made of cold?!"

Luffy put his hand over the pendant. Nami scared him sometimes  
"Yeah."

"Who gave it to you?" Sanji raised his brow suspiciously.

"I don't know. I just, sorta, found it from my closet. Along with some other stuff."

"Yeah! There was this awesome pirate chest and inside it were that necklace and a cool, black pirate flag!"

Zoro's eyes moved to the hand which covered the pendant. Could it be?

"A pirate flag? Yohohohohoho! I remember when I first met pirates! Aye, they acted like a scary gang but when they were on their own ship and partied, they were like a big, warm family."

Brook started his tale and only Usopp listened to him with awe. Robin and Nami started to talk about the latest fashion, and Sanji was asking Franky about the honeymoon.

Zoro turned to Luffy and asked to see the pendant.  
His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the smiley-face, a toothy smile actually.

"Do you know who gave me this?" Luffy asked with a low voice.  
"Yes", Zoro answered, he then looked back to Luffy's eyes.  
"We need to get home, now."

Zoro stood up, yanking Luffy on his feet with him.

"Sorry to end this so soon, but we really need to be going. Have a fun vacation."

"Bye everyone!"

"Bye Zoro, Luffy!"

"I'll call you Luffy!"

Luffy waved to his friends. He had to run so that he could keep in with Zoro's quick walking speed.  
They were walking so fast that Luffy couldn't make out other people's faces.  
Not until he bumped into somebody.

Luffy rubbed his head and winced when he felt pain shoot from his right hand.  
A similar groan came from the person he had bumped into.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see you." the boy opened his eyes and saw a man, older than him rubbing his head as well.  
"I must apologize too, I wasn't looking where I was going."

The man opened his eyes.  
Pair of black eyes locked onto Luffy and for a second he could have sworn that they were golden.

The man stood up, helping Luffy on to his feet as well. Luffy thanked. The man blew some dust off of his black hat.

"Again, I'm sorry for running into you. I was trying to keep after my friend but it seems that I've lost him." the small teen tried to see the green haired man among the people, but failed. He also failed to see the man staring down at him, at his pendant to be exact.

"Where did you get that pendant?"

Luffy looked up and then moved to the pendant.  
"I found it. I feel like it means a lot to me and someone really important gave it to me, but I can't remember."

Luffy was too occupied with his pendant that he didn't see the grin on the man's face.  
"That's too bad."

"Oh well, hopefully it will come back to me soon!" the boy beamed up to the man.  
The man was tall, huge to be exact but Luffy himself was little, so he wasn't one to say who was big and who was small. He wore black suit pants, a white top and had his hairs pulled back. On his head was a small, black top hat.

He also had muscles, just lie Zoro did. So either he worked out really hard or he did heavy lifting as his job.

"Ah, my name is Luffy. What's yours-"

"Luffy!"

Zoro was running through the crowd. Luffy smiled and waved for him.

"That's my friend I was talk-ing about..."

The man was gone.

Luffy blinked and spun around, trying to find the huge man in a top hat.

"Luffy!"  
Zoro finally reached his friend.  
"Where did you disappear to!? I was worried."

"I ran into a man."

"_A man_? What man?"

"Some man in a top hat, but he disappeared when I saw you."

"Was it Sabo?"

Luffy shook his head.  
"I don't know who he was, but there was something strange about him."

* * *

When the duo got home, Sabo was there, greeting them with lazy wave from the couch.

"I see you have taken the habit to make yourself at home." Zoro chuckled. Luffy jumped on the couch next to Sabo's. The man gave his little brother a tired smile.

"I'm exhausted."

"Why?" Luffy tilted his head and poked Sabo's cheek. The man only grunted, being too tired to push the hand away.

Sabo pointed Luffy's room.  
"I cleaned the explosion."

* * *

_**I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry****.**_I didn't mean this chapter to take this long to be finished. I had a lot to do! My summer job is really tiring so most of my free time goes with trying to sleep and trying to get some space for my friends. I work as a paper boy, a night time job (which is the best option for a ginger like me, who just happens get barbequed under the sun within 15 minutes without sun cream. Please forgive !  
Yay~ Another chappy~  
Thank you for your warm reviews! :3  
Yes, **Elri **(angelrider13) is back! :D *parties* I seriously cried when she posted the latest chapter. We cried together, it was beautiful.I hope you all liked this chappy-puppy. Any guesses who's the _mysterious man_? UUuuUUuu~ (I want to answer "my future husband!" but I can't. ;_;) The end was a bit mehh, but it will get better. You should all respect Sabo for cleaning up Luffy's room! He did it for the love of his brother. ;w;

And now for the **Finnish readers**, if there are any:Minä ilmaannun Desuconiin 14.-16.6., eli nyt tulevana viikonloppuna! :D Minut erottaa pomppimassa väentungoksessa Umbreon-huppari päällä ja aika varmasti sokerihumalaisena. Jos teitä suomalaisia täällä on niin tulkaa ihmeessä tervehtimään ja potkimaan perseelle "Nyt stna sitä uutta chapua kehiin!"

In English: I'm going to attend the Finnish Desucon on this weekend. Come and say hi to me! :D (I wear an Umbreon-hoodie and will be hugging the life out of smexy cosplayers.)

I'll see you darlings around!  
~ samettikettu


	4. Chapter 4: What are you?

**[A/N:]** For those who read _Sleeping Beauty _you have probably guessed that the fic is **on hiatus** at the moment.  
I lost my inspiration and enjoyment to write it because of **one review**. Words can hurt. They really can, especially if the guy who gets them has a very low self-esteem and can't stand to hear critic (*read* negative commentary). Yeah, maybe it's pathetic but to me, it always kills a part in me when I hear someone ill-talking about the things I've been working so hard for.  
I've explained this to a few reviewers and they have understood. To them I want to say **Thank you**. I love all of you and your words mean a lot to me, it's you who I want to please with my writings. I'm not just writing for my enjoyment but also for yours. So, thank you for hearing me out and respecting my decisions. You're all awesome. *hugs everyone*

And one more thing: I believe that many of you have read my mentor [yes. ], _**angelrider13**_'s, fics? (If not, then go and read them. They are so good that you will cry for the pure awesomeness.) How many of you have come across stolen fanfics/fanarts? To steal someone's writings or drawings is the worst thing you can do on internet. I've come across a few. There is this awesome One Piece -drawer who decided to stop drawing her favourite series because people were taking her art without crediting her. It was really painful for her because she loved drawing Luffy and the other crazy characters! But then yesterday on Facebook, me and some other fans encouraged her on drawing some more and if we ever came across the idiots who stole her arts, we'd eat them alive. She was so taken back by it that she started to draw OP-art again.

Even my drawings have been stolen when I was young. But I was a bit more wilder then than I'm now that that girl will never again even think about stealing my stuff... I even bit one guy for trying to steal my drawing. I had worked so hard for it and then this little *beeb**beeb*beeb* goes and tries to steal it?! NO WAY. **My idol since the 4th grade was Hannibal Lecter, so I acted like he'd have told me to act: Eat the rude.**

So, yes. I bit him. I bit him till he bled.  
And since then NO ONE has ever tried to steal my sh*t.

... I hope I didn't scare you guys... Ehheh...''' **ONWARDS!  
(no beta used, characters belong to Eiichiro Oda)  
**

* * *

**- Little Red Riding Hood -**

**~ samettikettu**

**Chapter 4.**

**'What are you?'**

* * *

Luffy carefully laid a blanket on his exhausted big brother. The man had fallen asleep on the couch. The teen turned the lights off so that Sabo could sleep better.

Zoro had gone to the kitchen to fix something for the brave man to eat. He knew how much courage and will-power it took to clean up Luffy's room. It literally seemed like a nuclear bomb had exploded there. The green-haired man was surprised that it only took Sabo the afternoon to clean it up. It usually took Zoro a day and a half.  
He had doubted the other man for a while but then went to see the room, finding it spotless and tidy.

_'I salute you, soldier.'_

Zoro gazed in the fridge, finding it empty.  
Of course, he and Sabo had eaten nearly everything last night. He wanted to greet the man with a proper dinner, it was the least he could do. But the fridge was empty so he had to go to the closest market.

The green haired man grabbed his wallet and keys.  
"Luffy! I'll go and get something for Sabo to eat. You want something?"

"Meat!" came an automatic answer from the living room.

"Of course, why did I even ask", Zoro chuckled and left the apartment.

* * *

Back in the living room, Luffy was thinking whether or not he should remove Sabo's top hat. It must be difficult to sleep it on and his brother would get a better position to sleep in if the hat was off.

He hadn't seen the man without it. Sabo had never actually made a movement to remove it.  
Luffy actually thought that the hat had been glued to the man's head.  
Thinking it was impossible, Luffy moved his hands to grab the hat.

He pulled it off.

His eyes widened at the sight of the man's head. No, what was coming from his head.

Luffy backed away.

The only light source came from behind the couch, from the kitchen, making the man's sleeping form look scary.  
The boy's hold around the hat tightened.  
_'What are you...'_

One of the _ears_ twitched, the teen gasped.

Sabo opened his eyelids.  
He saw Luffy standing at the other side of the coffee table, staring at him.

The man lazily got and yawned. He raised his hand to scratch his neck.  
"Yo, Luffy. How long was I-"  
His hand froze.  
Where was his hat?

Sabo's eyes were now fully open and were looking straight at Luffy- no, at what he was holding.

Luffy's big eyes grew wider as he saw the two flaming blue orbs concentrate on him.  
The light coming behind Sabo made him look animalistic, and with the two flaming eyes, like a _beast_.

Luffy took another step back. The information about the wolves, with flaming eyes, living in the forest popped into his mind.

Sabo stood up.

The wolves that had attacked town's people couple of times, leaving only destruction after them. Destruction and fear.

"Luffy..."

The blond man took a step to his left and then a step forward. He could have just stepped over the coffee table but he didn't know how Luffy'd have taken it. He could have taken it as a threat of the man attacking him and flee. There was also another option but Sabo doubted that Zoro'd have liked that idea.  
So the best option was to proceed slowly. The man held his arms up so Luffy saw he didn't want any harm. He took another careful step towards the teen.

He saw how Luffy's expression changed from confused and startled to horrified.  
Sabo saw how Luffy swallowed and took a shaky breath.  
Sabo saw how Luffy dropped his hat on the floor and took quick steps backwards, hitting his angle to the tv-table. The television shook a little by the impact but didn't fall. The teen stopped but then took the wrong direction hitting the wall next to the table.

Sabo tilted his head at this. Was Luffy really that scared that he forgot the wall's existence?  
He drew closer to the boy, who looked up and the look of terror came back to his face when their eyes met.

Sabo wondered why.

_'Oh, but of course.'_

Luffy didn't see.  
The lights were off making it impossible for Luffy to see anything when he saw well.

"Luffy, it's alright."

The teen pushed his back against the wall behind him, looking like wanted to go through it.

"Luffy, it's alright. Here, let me put the lights on."

Luffy let out the breath he had been holding, finally being brave enough to get some air in his lungs again.

The ceiling light flickered few times before lighting up the room.  
Now Luffy saw Sabo in his full glory. He could only stare the man's two furry ears pointing up from his head. They were a little darker shade of light brown from his hair.  
Something behind Sabo's back got Luffy's attention. Was that a... _Tail_?  
Sabo's eyes weren't _flaming_ anymore. They were normal sea blue eyes that gave him a worried look from the other side of the room. Luffy cleared his throat.

"Wha-what are you?"

"From the beginning of the time humankind have called us 'werewolves', but I find it offensive to call my kind like that", Sabo tried to joke. He flashed a toothy grin, only receiving a confused blink.

"So are you a werewolf?"

"No."

"But you have ears and a tail like a wolf, and and your teeth are pointy!" Luffy pointed the man. Sabo groaned and sat down on the couch. He leaned his elbows on his knees and massaged his face. This conversation was far too familiar to him. They had gone through the same exact conversation when they were kids. Ace had been a bit tactless and threatened to kill Luffy if he ever told anyone, making the poor kid scared. Of course Sabo had stepped in and scolded the other boy for being so rude. To their surprise Luffy hadn't been affected by the information at all. In fact, he'd found the thing cool! After that both Sabo and Ace started to question Luffy's sanity.

Sabo lifted his head up to meet Luffy's curious eyes. He was invading Sabo's personal space by sitting as close he could on the sofa, as he studied the blond male's ears. The blond-haired man didn't move when he felt Luffy curiously touching his ears. The fingers travelled from his scalp to the tip of the ear, carefully examining every inch and fur. Luffy touched one certain place behind the left ear that made Sabo's tail wag.

Sabo couldn't be more embarrassed.

But Luffy found it fun.  
He scratched behind the ear some more, making the man lean into his touch and the tail wag more excitedly. The raven-haired teen let out a small giggle when he moved his other hand to scratch the same place at the other side.  
This was too much for Sabo and he slumped on Luffy's lap.  
The teen had mercy on the blond man and proceeded to pet his head.

Sabo felt like a lap dog. At that image he bolted up and straightened his blue jacket and tie. Luffy snickered.

"I see you find this amusing", Sabo said as he stood to get his hat, which has lying on the floor at the other side of the coffee table. The teen didn't answer but Sabo could hear his quiet giggles. God, sometimes he hated having a better hearing than the humans did.

Luffy tilted his head seemed a little confused when Sabo sat back on the sofa.

"Wait, if you are not a werewolf then what are you?"

"Humans define werewolves as people who, during every full moon, turn into man-eating beasts that are shaped as a mixture of human and wolves. Some say that they turn fully into wolves. The belief has changed during centuries.

"But what comes to my kind, you could say that I'm some sort of a _humanoid wolf_. I have wolf's features: ears, tail, teeth, claws and I can see, smell and hear better than humans. But as you can see, I'm still a human. Well, at least if I hide my wolfy-parts", Sabo smiled when Luffy snickered at the "wolfy-parts".

"Can you change into a wolf? Like, have a fur and a snout and paws?"

"Some of us can. It depends on the person's personality and how experienced they are. I myself despite becoming a full wolf. Because when you turn into one there is a high possibility to lose yourself during the transformation. You can easily forget who you are and become a beast, never being able to turn back to your old form nor self. Unlike normal wolves, our wolf forms are nearly as big as a human, maybe even bigger."

"Wait, there are more like you in that forest?" Luffy blinked.

"Well, there were..." Sabo rubbed his neck and stared the floor.  
"Many of us have been killed by poachers or town's people. Me, Ace and two other are the last ones."

"Wait, Ace is one too?!"

"Eh, yes?"

Sabo didn't know what to expect. He had just revealed the full truth about supernatural beasts living in the forest next to the town. Maybe he expected Luffy to be pale as a sheet, run to his room to pack his stuff and move away? Or call someone that would send somebody to deal with the beasts? Then again, there were other beasts in that forest than his kind. Those who lived at the Dark Side were a whole different story from his and he'd tell it to Luffy when he saw the boy was ready for it.  
"That's actually pretty cool."

But then again, this was Luffy he was dealing with. The boy had always been bold by facts that made other people falter.

* * *

The evening went like this: Luffy ask Sabo questions about his life as a 'humanoid wolf' as Sabo called himself and the blond male would try to answer as truthfully as he could.

"What do you eat?"

"Normal food."

"Which is?"

"Well, meat and fish, I like barbequed vegetables. Oh, and those cupcakes Dadan ordered were mostly for me. I love sweets."

"So, you don't run around in the forest after rabbits or birds?"

"Gods, no! The animals in the forest are my friends, or at least the most of them. I eat cooked food."

"Oh", Luffy felt a bit bad for suggesting something like that. He didn't know that the animals were so close to each other. He had assumed that the weakest ones were eaten by the strongest, but apparently not.

"What about the darker side of the forest?"

"The creatures that live there..."

Luffy saw how the male's face darkened. Was that _fear_ in his eyes? Sabo's hands grasped harder his knees, so hard that Luffy was afraid they'd break.

"We who live at the greener and brighter side are peaceful and help each other. Foxes and rabbits are friends which may sound weird, but I have seen it. My friend is a fox, who is in love with this female rabbit. I must admit that I was surprised by it at first", Sabo chuckled fondly. Luffy smiled, "How did she take it?"

"She too was surprised, but they are now very happy together. As she said, _'love is blind and it doesn't matter what species or sex you are'_. A very important lesson, I want you remember that."

Sabo gave the teen a meaningful glance. It had a hidden message but Luffy didn't get it. At least not yet, but the time isn't right yet, Sabo mused.

"But the darker side..." the male wolf concentrated on the table. His stare could burn a whole into it.

"They are brutes. They enjoy making others suffer, love seeing pain. They eat whatever comes to their way. They have eaten so many of my friends.

"Since they have gotten used only to the darkness they wander off to our side and hunt down the poor creatures that haven't gone in for the night. I've fought against them many times to save my friends. Until now I have been lucky enough and stayed alive, Ace too. Last time he nearly ran off to the Dark side when he heard that a whole squirrel family had been eaten. He went off to the suicide mission and when he came back he refused to talk to me for the whole month."

"Do you know what happened to him?" Luffy whispered. Sabo shook his head.

"I don't know, but his arm was broken so I believe him getting into a brutal fight. I don't know the fate of the opponent. But since Ace survived with a broken arm I believe him fighting till the end. It may be that his opponent is either dead or had mercy on him."

Luffy nodded.  
He had to admit that he didn't find the information that surprising as he had first thought. If Sabo was this nice to him and didn't wish any harm for him, Luffy could believe that the other two were as nice, he wasn't that sure about Ace.

"What kind of creatures live at the other side?"

Sabo thought for a while. "Well, bears and cat beasts mostly. I have seen a hawk flying to the mountain at the border of the Dark side. I don't know if he has any relations to the animals but I'm keeping my eyes on him."

"So, you wolves live with the small animals? Are you, like, their guardians or something?"

"Well, if you put it that way then yes and no", Sabo scratched the top of his nose. "There is me and Ace who are defending the other animals. The other two... those asses do what they want but they share the equal dislike towards the Dark side like me and Ace."

Luffy could see the man sulking, he snickered. He then realized something by glancing the clock on the wall on Sabo's left.

"Oh no."

"What?"

Luffy huffed and stood up.  
"Zoro's probably lost again. He's taking far too long with those groceries", the teen grinned. The older male sitting on the sofa chuckled. Luffy put on his red hoodie and sandals then proceeded to the front door.

"I'm going to look for him, you stay here and continue your napping like a good little doggie you are."

"Now that was uncalled for!"

* * *

It was dark outside and the only sources of light came from the street lights and markets that were still open.  
Luffy frowned when he got the grocery store a couple of blocks away from his place. This was usually the market that Zoro used when he wanted to be quick. He walked through the market straight to the counter where a familiar woman stood, smiling to him.

"Good evening Luffy. Looking for some snacks?"

"No thanks Kalifa. Have you seen Zoro? He left for the market few hours ago and hasn't returned", Luffy looked the woman with a worried frown on his face. The woman tilted her head and brought her right hand under her chin.

"Zoro, hmm. Ah yes", she fixed her glasses.  
"He came by when my shift started. He bought a lot of food supplies and then left. It was somewhere around seven o'clock."

"And it's half past nine now..." Luffy was getting truly worried. Usually it didn't take this long for Zoro to get home, even if he got lost on the way.

"But then again, there was this tall man with a top hat that asked Zoro to follow him."

"A man with a top hat?"

"Yes, and I must say that he was very handsome", Kalifa giggled to his fist. Luffy lowered his eyes on counter.  
He knew only one man who wore a top hat, but Sabo had been with him for the whole evening.  
His eyes flashed.  
That man at the mall.

"Did you see where they went?"

Kalifa nodded at pointed the alleyway across the street. Luffy thanked her and ran out of the store. He could hear Kalifa yelling him to be careful, which noted with a wave.  
But what he didn't see was the wicked smirk on the woman's lips as he disappeared to the dark alleyway.

The alley went on and on and on. At this point Luffy knew that he was far away from his apartment. He was aware of the gangs that liked to hang around this area and he felt like he was being watched but he had to find Zoro!

A dustbin fell over somewhere, someone screamed and a cat meowed.

"Zoro?"

It was starting to get too dark for Luffy's liking. There were no streetlights, only light streaming from the windows above. The boy span around trying to find something, Zoro, a hobo, a way out, something!

The only thing that Luffy saw was a pair of yellow cat eyes.  
He locked his eyes on the cat's.  
Or, he at least believed that it was a cat since no human could be so high and have such flaming _... yellow eyes_.

Luffy's eyes widened.

The cat's eyes were a bit too big for a normal cat to have.  
No.  
And cats' eyes did not flame like this one's did. No, only if light hits cat's eyes they will sheen but not flame.

"You are not a normal street cat, are you..?" Luffy backed away to the way he came from. He didn't know what to expect as an answer but he did not expect it to talk back.

"You are a little bit slow, aren't you _Luffy_", a rough, low stated. The pair of eyes disappeared and re-appeared in front of Luffy, whose own eyes widened at the sight.

_'It's that man from the mall!'  
_  
"Who are you? What have you done with Zoro?" the raven haired teen was proud of himself since his voice didn't give out his small fear towards the man.  
A low chuckle erupted from the man. Despite the lack of light Luffy could see the man's face. Hair tied neatly back, oddly shaped stubble and malevolent eyes.  
Luffy swallowed.  
The man's appearance screamed for danger.

The man straightened his suit jacket and black tie. A white pigeon flew on his left shoulder. He raised his right hand and petted the bird under its beak. Luffy gasped when he saw the long and painfully sharp-looking nails.  
_'No, not nails, claws'_, Luffy corrected himself. He took another cautious step back.

"Your friend, this _Zoro_, is fine. I just distract him a little and unfortunately he got lost to these alleys. This town's alleyways can be a jungle, don't you agree? Even more than the forest's paths can", the man lead on. The pigeon made small noises and leaned towards the gentle finger.

The man clicked his tongue and the bird flew off with his hat.  
All the man's attention was on Luffy now.

"When was the last time we saw? Has it been, what, eight years?"

"Who are you?!" Luffy wasn't asking for answers, he was demanding them.

"And how you have grown. You were so small back then, so short and little. And now look at you - nearly a full grown man. How old are you, Luffy?"

"Seventeen..."

"Seventeen", then man repeated and seemed to be thinking about something. "Too bad", he said with a sigh.

"What?"

But before the man could answer, there was a yell from an alleyway near them.  
Luffy's face brightened. It was Zoro!

"Ah, he seems to have noticed that you are here as well."

The teen gasped when he felt the man grasping his shoulder with an impressive amount of strenght. The sharp claws bit into his skin, making the teen yelp.

"But don't worry, Luffy. We will meet again. I'm positive about that."

And with that the pressure on his shoulder was gone and so was the man.

"Where the hell is it... I've been here before.. Oh, for the love of-Luffy?!"

Zoro appeared to the alleyway where Luffy was, still a bit shocked by the earlier. He shook his head and turned his head to his long time friend, who seemed to be stressed and frustrated from running around the alleys of the town.

"Zoro! You are okay!"

"Yeah, I am... But, what are you doing here?"

"I came to look for you. You left hours ago and I was getting worried!"

"And hungry?"

"W-well yeah that too. But mostly I was worried! And Sabo was too. Now let's go home." Luffy turned back to the alleyway he came from, Zoro followed close behind.

* * *

"So let me get this straight: Zoro got lost to the alleyways and was wandering there for this whole time?"

"Yes."

Zoro snarled from embarrassment when Sabo cracked down and laughed with tears in his eyes.  
He had a very good reason for being there! A bloody pigeon had stolen his wallet and Zoro had ran after it. After finding it he spent the next hours trying find his way back to the main street. The next thing he knew was that he saw Luffy standing in the alleyway, which he was still questioning.

"If it wasn't for that bloody pigeon I'd not have gotten lost in the first place!"

"A pigeon?" Luffy frowned. _'But Kalifa said that Zoro followed that creepy man in a suit.'  
_  
"Yeah, that thing took my wallet from my hand flew away! The nerve of birds today", the green-haired male muttered and re-filled his plate. Sabo's laughing had changed into low chuckling.

Luffy was confused.  
He then remembered the white pigeon on the man's shoulder.  
_'Maybe it was him after all...'_

"Anyway, Luffy, got any plans for tomorrow?" Sabo poked the boy with his fork.

"Tomorrow is Monday, school. The last week of school before the Spring Break starts!" Luffy exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "No homework or teachers for two weeks!"

"_Spring Break_?"

"Every spring we get two weeks off from school before the last exams start. I'm going to a kendo camp for those two weeks." Zoro explained Sabo, who nodded.

"Do you have any plans for the vacation, Luffy?" Sabo turned back to his celebrating little brother.  
Luffy's smile dropped.  
"All of my friends are going somewhere except for me. I guess I'll be playing videogames for two weeks and build a fortress to living room." The teen was now pouting, holding his arms crossed against his chest.

Sabo seemed to be thinking about something, a sly grin appeared on his lips.

"Don't worry about it Luffy. Sometimes it's only a good thing to be alone, you should enjoy it!" Zoro grinned at the teen.  
"You know I will!"

Luffy stuck out his tongue at Zoro. "Meanie!"

* * *

Luffy threw himself on the bed and smiled happily. Zoro's cookings were always so tasty and he loved being full. He'd be sleeping like a log till he had to go to school, lucky for him his first class started at ten.

Just when he was about to close his eyes for the night, Sabo silently entered his room and closed the door behind him.

"Good, you are not sleeping yet."

Luffy leaned on his forearms and tilted his head. "What's up Sabo?"

The man sat next to Luffy.  
"I have a proposition."

"What kind of proposition?"

"Would you like to move to Dadan's for the Spring Break?"

Luffy's eyes widened.  
That was actually a great idea! Why hadn't he thought of that? While his stay there Luffy could get answers about his childhood life and get to know better the family that had been so fond of him.

"I'd love to!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Great! Let's not talk to Zoro about this, or to Garp. They'd be against it."

"Okay."

"Zoro told me that he would be leaving on Friday after his last class. How about if I come and pick you up on Saturday? Let's say... At three?"

Luffy nodded excitedly. Sabo shared his smile.

"I don't think you remember anything about that black flag I found from the floor while I was cleaning your room?"

"Flag? What flag? Oh that flag. What is it?"

Sabo sweat-dropped but chuckled it off.  
"When you were a kid and played with me and Ace, out favorite game was to play pirates. You loved pirates! You always told us the tale about some red-haired pirate man, from your hometown, who saved you from drowning into the ocean. You said that you got that straw hat from him. You'd go on and on and on about that guy!" Sabo smiled fondly as he recalled the sweet childhood. "It was quite ironic that me and Ace too liked pirates. We decided to form our own crew and that flag was the proof of our friendship and brotherhood. A for Ace, S for Sabo and L for Luffy.

"Oh, and if I remember correctly you received a present from Ace on the same day when we gave that flag to you. I don't know what it was but it meant a lot to him." Sabo smiled to Luffy, a sad yet happy smile. The man stood up and stretched.

"Oh well, time for me to hit the sofa! I'll be seeing you in the morning little bro!"

"Yeah... See you", Luffy watched as the man disappeared to the other room as quietly as he had come in.

Again, so much new information and Luffy could feel the burn of another migraine attack coming. He put out the light on his nightstand and pulled on his comforter. Sleep would help him and in the morning he'd be feeling a lot of better. He was sure of it.

Luffy closed his eyes and sighed drifting into a dream.

Sleep.

He was dreaming.

He was dreaming about the things that had happened to him today.

No.

This happened a long time ago.

Eight years ago.

And yet it was so familiar with the incident that had happened today.

He was remembering.

* * *

_Why had the boy wandered off the path?_

_Was it because of that one pretty little butterfly that flew off to that one certain direction he wasn't supposed to go?_

_Or was it because of the white pigeon that sat on a rock, where the butterfly landed, and attracted the boy's interest?_

_A white pigeon,_ here?  
At_ the dark side of the forest, where only predators, killers and murderers lived?_

_So, when the pigeon flew off, the boy followed. But when the bird landed on a big and tall man's shoulder, the boy knew that it was a trap. And he had stepped right into it._

_The man looked dangerous with his piercing yellow eyes. He wore a top-hat, smaller from his brother's and it was black. He also wore a suit._  
_The man took off his hat and bowed._

_"Little Luffy, I've waited for you."_

_The pigeon flew off with the top-hat, leaving the man alone in the dark side of the forest with the terrified boy, who couldn't remove his eyes from the piercing yellow eyes._

.

.

.

_"I'm here to erase you."_

* * *

**[A/N:]** Hello Hallo and so on~

OMG, I must admit that I fell in love with Sabo. XD I want a cute little lap dog like that!

A lot has happened during the past month.  
I went to Desucon and bought the most sexiest Law figure there ever is, and an old otaku man told me that I'd be a perfect Boa Hancock. **AND, I GOT MY 67th ONE PIECE BOOK SIGNED BY OKAMURA AKEMI - THE VOICE ACTRESS OF NAMI!** HOW COOL IS THAT?!  
My best friend was driven over by a car then her insulin pump decided to be a jerk and stopped working but luckily her mother managed to drive her to the hospital for IV treatment.  
Then I managed to fall down some stairs while working and hitting a glass door.

so the main reason for this delay is THAT I HAVEN'T SLEPT FOR TWO WEEKS MORE THAN 15 HOURS. Ö_Ö  
-and I've been too lazy to post anything.  
-and I got caught up in another fandom, twice.. (Curse you Johnlock, Thilbo and Smauglock!)*  
-I went to see the newest Star Trek movie. Twice. (ehehe, Benedict Cumberbatch~ )  
-I saw a hedgehog. (MARTIN FREEMAN!*spins*)

Okay, what else.. umm.. So yeah... I have a favor to ask you guys. It really bothers me that I can't update as often as I'd love to so I'd be happy if someone could volunteer as my official ass-kicker!? I'll trade e-mails with this lovely person and I'm expecting them to there and then mail me angry mails **"Why haven't updated yet?!"** or **"Where the *eff* is the update!?"** but nothing too mean, plz. :3

I'd like to thank **Anjelle** for being an awesome friend while I was working with this chapter and also welcome back **Elri**! We love you so so so so much! (Never leave me alone again! ;_;)

That's about all for now. :3  
I hope you all a very nice week and I will see you ...

~ Ame, _**AWAYYYHH! ***FUSH!*_

**PS. HEY GUYS! GUESS WHAT! :D I have a blog now! Yeah, I've been so **creative and stuff** so I wanted to create a blog where I'd submit fanart and other stuff about my fandoms and fanfics! The great thing about this is that you can leave me a feedback there! This is what I'm excited the most! You've all been so nice to me that I want to give you something back. You can find the info about my blog from my profile. :33  
I'm pretty excited and positive about this but if someone goes and destroys my fun, I'll have to eat them. Seriously. Eating people is not a crime if they are rude. GREAT! See ya guys later !**


	5. Chapter 5: Home

_**[A/N]** HI GUYS, see!? I'm being productive! :D (now give me hugs!)_

**Just a few words about this chapter and the following ones too. I planned that I would write the whole two week time in one chapter but then I learned it being highly impossible for me and for my aching head. I've been having these headaches for the last six days but luckily I have this week off from work so I can nurse myself back to full HP, and my folks left Finland for the next two weeks and headed for Greece. Now I'm having some well earned relaxing time with my little kitty and computer.  
I also grew bored how slowly I'm updating this story and I blame my perfectionism. I always want to write long chapters for you guys but it always takes time to write a chap with over 17 pages... that and I'm lazy.  
So if you guys won't mind, I'll be taking the writing a little bit easier and try to update a little shorter chapters. Thx!**

**Oh and heyy! I want to tell you guys that I was visiting deviantArt the other day and I found two fanarts that got their inspiration from this fic! ;w; I seriously cried when I saw them,, They were so beautiful! So, **XxSasorixX** if you are reading this, I want you to know that you are awesome and that I love you!**

Story (c) samettikettu  
Characters (c) Eiichiro Oda

* * *

_A small boy in a red hoodie stared up to two pair of piercing yellow eyes. He trembled, not only from the coldness of the forest but also from fear._  
_He swallowed._

_"Wh-why do you have such big e-eyes?" he stuttered, taking a step back._

_"So I'd see you better", came a deep voice from a man the boy didn't know. It was dark and silent, only things that could be heard were the boys breathing and a shuffle as the man stepped closer to the boy._

_"Wh-why do you have such big c-claws?" the boy was terrified. He took two steps back. He wanted to run away, escape from this man. Now!_

_"So I'd hold onto my prey better", came the answer and the man stepped two steps closer to the boy, eyes never leaving him._

_He was even too afraid to ask but he had to: "Then... Why do you have such big and sharp teeth?" the child in red took a sharp turn and started to run as fast as he could._  
_It was dark._  
_Why had he disobeyed his brothers' advice not to stray off of the dirt path?! Why had he come to the dark part of the forest even thought he had been told not to?! No one could save him here!_

_The boy sped up his speed as he tried to get to the other side of the forest._  
_The safe side._  
_There his brothers could help him!_

_The boy let out a yelp as he was kicked to the ground from behind. He tried to get up but the sudden weight on his back prevented him not to. Sharp claws bit down on his skin as the man on him held him down. The man lowered his face so that his lips were next to the trembling boy's right ear._

_"The answer to your question is..."_

_The weight on the boy left but as soon as the boy realized that, he was pulled up from his hair. The boy let out a painful yelp as he was raised to the man's face level._

_The man studied the dirtied and scared face of the child. He licked his lips and smirked, showing his sharp, predatory teeth. He brought the boy's face close to his and licked the right cheek. The boy bit down on his tongue so he wouldn't scream. The man's tongue was so rough! Like, like a cat's tongue!_  
_Despite from all of the pain in his scalp, the boy opened his eyes to meet the yellow piercing eyes of the terrifying man before him. The man smirked, yellow eyes glowing._

_"The answer to your question is, so I could rip you apart and eat you better."_

_The boy screamed as he saw the yellow eyes flick and he was dropped to the ground. The man's shape shifted into something animalistic and he let out a deep growl that transformed into a roar. The boy was up to his feet again and running, because his life depended on it._  
_Faster, faster... He had to go_

_**FASTER**!_

_Trees, rocks, bushes, more trees and rocks..._  
_If he hid, the man-beast would smell him out._  
_If he climbed, the man-beast would climb after him._  
_So all he could do was run._

_The boy glanced over his shoulder to see that the man-beast wasn't after him anymore. But he knew that he was followed. He couldn't stop._

_There it was!_  
_The path to the other side was straight up ahead._  
_The small child in red ran as fast as he could. He could hear the beast behind him getting closer. It was fast._  
_He could practically feel it breathing next to his ear._

_**There!**_  
_He was back on the path and at the bright side of the forest. He could see Dadan's small house from here._  
_The boy slowed down. The dark forest was far behind now and he couldn't hear the beast anymore. He turned around and tried to spot the huge man-beast._  
_Nothing._  
_He had lost the man._

_The boy let out a sigh of relief._  
_He was safe._

* * *

**- Little Red Riding Hood -**

**~ samettikettu**

**Chapter 5.**

**'Home'**

* * *

Luffy bolted up from the bed, panting harshly.  
The teen held his head and let out a pained moan. It hurt so much!  
He threw off the covers and stood up, falling to his knees. He couldn't stand because the pain was too great.

Luffy tried to ease his migraine by rubbing his temples but it didn't work. Just then he noticed the warm liquid coming down from his eyes. Was he crying?  
The answer to that was yes, he was also sweating bullets and shaking uncontrollably. He was having a minor panic attack caused by the dream he had just woken from.  
The teen wanted to call for help.  
His brother was sleeping in the living room and his best friend at the other side of the wall. But then again he didn't want to worry them by a stupid nightmare that _somehow seemed so real and familiar_. Could it be that he just saw what had happened to him before his amnesia? Was he starting to remember things from the past?

Another wave of pain struck through him and Luffy couldn't help but to let out a silent scream. His head aches had never been this bad. The teen opened his eyes to only see white, black spots dancing around his vision. The raven-haired teen blinked repeatedly then opened his eyes again, finding his vision back. The pain was starting to ease and Luffy let go of his head. He was still panting unevenly but he managed calm down his shaking. The teen wrapped his arms around himself and gave himself a tight hug. Soon his breathing eased down to normal.

Something was going on and Luffy didn't like it at all.  
He didn't want to admit it but he was scared. He was scared of what was happening to him and around him. Everything was going so fast. Just two days earlier Luffy hadn't know anything about him having brothers or anything about his life before his amnesia. Then he had met Sabo and Dadan's gang who were all so delighted to see him. Then he had met his other brother who didn't seem to like him at all. Then on yesterday he had found out the truth behind the forest and the creatures living there, and also that his brothers were one of the creatures.

And then there was his one man that Luffy could sworn that he had met somewhere before yesterday. The man was so familiar somehow and yet the teen couldn't put his finger on it. First at the mall, then at the alleyway, then the man with the white pigeon had appeared in his dream. They both had the same dangerous yellow eyes. Who was that man and could it be that the man knew him and how he lost his memory? _Could it be that the man was…_

Luffy shook his head to shake those thoughts away. He didn't want to think about that man right now. But still he had a feeling that he had come across with the man before.  
Another warm tear crossing down his cheek startled the teen from his thoughts. Was he really this scared? Luffy couldn't remember the last time he had cried and it seemed that his mentality either, so the small raven-haired teen sat on the floor, hugging himself while he let every hidden feeling out. His eight years of pain, angst, freight and sorrow. He had felt so alone even when Zoro was with him. He was alone in this dark world without his memories of the past, friends or relatives. He didn't even know if he had parents! He only had Gramps and Zoro and neither of them had ever mentioned anything about his parents. Luffy had once asked if he had a mother or father but Gramps had changed the subject and Zoro had gone silent.  
They were hiding things from him.  
His two most trusted persons were hiding something from him!  
Come to think of it, Luffy had never heard Gramps talk about Sabo nor Ace before. And the phone call from two days ago was the first time he ever heard of Dadan. Zoro had never said a word about his brothers up until two days ago.

Suspicion was starting to grow inside the teen as he thought back. He had always felt alone and never mind the fact that Zoro was his best friend he shouldn't have hidden things like this from Luffy. The older male had always kept his mouth shut whenever Luffy asked about his past. Some things he would reveal, like that his favourite foods were meat and apples, and his favourite colour was red. Other things he had to find out on his own by trying different things out, like the fact that he didn't know how to swim. This experiment had nearly caused Zoro a heart attack at the age of eleven when Luffy had sunk under the water right after jumping in.

A sly grin crept on the teen's lips when he thought about the Spring Break. Zoro would be away for two whole weeks and Luffy'd go to Dadan's place with Sabo. During the two weeks the teen would find out more about his self, if possible - everything.

The teen noticed that his shaking had finally stopped, and so had his tears. He climbed back to his bed and pulled the covers back on. A quick glance at the clock told him that he still had many lovely sleeping hours before waking up for school. With a soft sigh Luffy closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep, hopefully seeing some nicer dreams this time.

* * *

A young man stood under the moonlight eyes closed, mind wandering off from things that had been stressing him out for the last two days.  
The moonlight made his skin pale and brought out his raven black hair. The man's two furry ears listened to the sounds of the sleeping forest around him. He could feel a small breeze wave his neck-long hair. His crimson eyes snapped open.

Something was coming.

He could smell the faint scent of blood in the air. Someone was hurt or someone had hurt. The crimson eyes stared the trees ahead. Something was moving and coming this way. The man stood on his ground ready for a fight, baring his teeth as a low snarl came from him.

A tall shape appeared from behind the trees and stopped in front of the man. The crimson eyes widened in disbelief.

"You!"

The tall figure snickered, stepping out from the shadows to the pale moonlight. Fierce yellow eyes stared down at the equal fierce red ones. The taller male folded his arms and let a wicked smirk grow to his lips, baring his sharp teeth.

"Good evening, _Ace_."

"What are you doing here you bastard", Ace spit out. He didn't want to see this disgusting man here. No, he didn't want to see him ever. The younger male took a step back when the taller one sifted.

"Just enjoying from the beautiful night", yellow eyes looked up to the starry sky and stayed on the moon that would be full after two nights. "The sky is far more beautiful here than it is in the town. You can't see the stars so well there because of the street lights."

Ace's fists clenched tighter together. What did this man want and what business he had to the town?! As if reading the other's mind, the older and taller man turned his eyes back to Ace. His smirk widened when he saw the look in the younger's eyes.  
Before Ace could even blink, the older man was a foot away from. The man brought his hand in front of the younger's face and Ace could smell the faint scent of blood from it. The scent was sweet and familiar. A bloodied claw brushed against the younger male's lips causing Ace to jump back.

"What the hell!?" he yelled at the man whose smirk had grown even more wider. The man brought the hand to his own lips and licked the small amount blood away from his claws and finger tips. Ace could feel and smell the liquid on his lips and he was tempted to lick it off but not in front of this man. No, Ace had his pride and dignity.  
The man turned around and started to make his way back to where he had come from, soon disappearing into darkness. Ace waited and listened but he heard nothing. That damn cat had always been a sneaky bastard.

After a while, Ace finally dared to lick his lips, removing the crimson liquid from them. He found the blood taste even sweeter than it smelled and somehow the flavor gave him this nostalgic feeling which warmed up his chest. The young man brought his hand up and touched his lips with his finger tips.

'_What is this feeling…'_

"_Ne, ne, Ace?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_What's a '_blood brother_'?"_

_The small ten-year-old wolf watched his little brother with raised brows. Where had he heard of that? The small seven-year-old had his head tilted to the side and he was blinking his big innocent eyes. The over-sized straw hat covered most of the dark brown hair and shadowed his face a bit, but still the sparkling brown eyes were visible._

"_Where did you hear that?"_

"_I heard it from Dadan. She was talking with Gramps the other day and she said something about blood brothers and Gramps started to laugh. Neither of them wanted to explain it to me", the small boy pouted. Ace brought his small hand under his chin and thought a good way to explain the meaning of a blood brother to his simple little brother. He hadn't noticed when his little brother had gone behind him started to play with tail._

"_Okay Luffy, a blood brother is—__**What **__are you doing with my tail?"_

"_Uh, sorry…" the boy laughed sheepishly, scratching his neck. He let go of the tail and sat down on the ground. Ace sat across him, legs crossed like Luffy had._

"_A blood brother is almost like the bond that we three share as brothers, but it goes deeper. You remember that we shared sake together in order to become brothers?"_

_Luffy nodded then stuck out his tongue. "That sake-stuff was bad, how is Gramps able to drink that stuff a bottle after bottle?"_

"_Yeah, well, in order to become blood brothers with someone you have to share your blood with them."_

"_Share blood? How? Do you drink the blood from the other, like a vampire?"_

"_No, no. You both cut small cut to your finger and then combine the cuts together", Ace put the tips of his both forefingers together. "Like this."_

"_And after that you become blood brothers with that someone? Just like that?" Luffy tilted his head again, causing the hat to fall over his eyes. Ace chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, but like I said the bond between two blood brothers runs much more deeper than it does with normal brothers. Brothers look after each other and help each other, but a blood brother takes care of you and defends you from any harm. Both brothers love their brothers very much but a blood brother's love can go deeper." a blush had appeared across Ace's cheeks. Luffy failed to notice it because he was trying to fix the hat back on his head._

"_Wait, there can be only two blood brothers, no three?"_

_Ace shook his head. "Only two brothers can share the blood bond together."_

"_Oh", came the small reply._

_The young wolf sighed. He had been embarrassed to explain the meaning of a blood brother. He was on ten but he knew stuff by listening Dadan's drunken slur to her family and Garp. He even sometimes read Sabo's books but that was something no one was going to know, never.  
He had once read about blood brothers and blushed when he read that a blood brother could be considered as a lover. A closer friend than a best friend or a family member or a life partner could ever be. When the blood was share it meant that the two would now be equal, they'd share the blood along with body mind and soul, figuratively speaking. Like a marriage.  
Having a blood brother would mean that this someone who shared blood with Ace would be bond to him forever and nothing could tear them a part, not even death and that was made the bond between a blood brother stronger than with a bond between husband and wife._

"_Yosh, I've decided! I want to be blood brothers with Ace!"_

"_Excuse me what did you say?!"_

"_I want to be blood brothers with Ace!"_

_Ace blinked.  
What?  
Why him?  
Why not with Sabo?  
Sabo was nicer and a better big brother than he was and could take better care of Luffy than he ever could._

"_Why me? Why not with Sabo?"_

"_Because I like Ace. Sabo is a great older brother but I like Ace more. I want to be with Ace forever!" the small seven-year-old smiled sincerely. The smile made Ace's heart skip a beat. Luffy liked him the best? He could feel his cheeks getting warmer._

"_Are you sure about this?"_

"_Uh-huh!"_

"_Okay then", Ace bared his sharp teeth and bit down on the tip of his forefinger. His claws weren't sharp nor long enough yet so it had to be done like this. Luffy gazed up at him and growled closer to his big brother, offering his right forefinger. Ace took a hold of the finger and took it closer to his mouth._

"_This is going to hurt a little", he warned but Luffy had his determined look on his face, which meant that he wasn't going back on his decision. Ace bit down on the finger, he felt the younger boy flinch but didn't say a word. Few drops of the blood fell on Ace's tongue and he swallowed, finding the flavor oddly sweet. He let go of the finger and Luffy pulled it back and gazed the small cut on his finger. The young wolf offered his hand to the human child and the two young children combined their bloodied forefingers._

_They both stared the fingers and then each other's. Luffy had a small blush on his face and so did Ace, they smiled. Ace pulled his finger away and brought it to his mouth to lick off the blood. He watched as Luffy did the same. The small wolf smirked to his __**blood brother**__._

"_This is going to be our big secret, right Blood brother?"_

"_Yeah, Blood brother!" Luffy replied eagerly._

Ace's eyes widened in realization.  
This was _Luffy's blood_!  
The crimson eyes searched for the disappeared man franticly. How had that man had Luffy's blood on his claws?!

'_No, wait, calm down… I don't care about that backstabber anymore. He betrayed my trust and is no longer my brother'_, Ace thought to himself. He turned his back to the direction which the man had gone to and started to make his way to his home, or hideout as Sabo called it.

But still, the young wolf couldn't shake off the feeling that something big was going to happen and he didn't like it at all.

* * *

When Luffy woke up on the Monday morning the first thing he noticed was that Sabo was gone and that he was feeling well-rested. He exited his room and went straight to the shower and after that he pulled on his clothes and scared Zoro half to death when he got to the kitchen. The older teen was surprised that Luffy had woken up himself and this early. The raven-haired one waved it off and began to eat his breakfast.

Zoro noticed the weird tension around the young teen but said nothing. Just the fact that Luffy had woken up early after sleeping the night was weird. Usually he slept in and was late from the school or had woken up by a migraine attack and stayed up all night or he hadn't got any sleep because his head ache and would either stay up all night and be dead tired for the rest of the day or he would fall asleep in the morning hours and get only few hours of sleep. The green-haired man studied his best friend for a while and then shook his head with a chuckle. That boy was true mystery to him sometimes.

Luffy felt his friend's eyes on him but decided to ignore them.  
He was too busy planning one how he could speed up the week so that it would be Friday. He hated it when he was waiting for something fun to happen and the time was going too slow. It was annoying. But to his surprise the week went like a flash.

On Friday afternoon Luffy blinked and wondered where the hell the week had gone, and he also hoped that the next two weeks wouldn't go this fast. The teen stood in the kitchen and stared as Zoro was putting the last things into his big green bag. His three katanas were on the kitchen table packed into their own special bag.

"Are you sure that you can manage on your own for the next two weeks?" Zoro's worried voice snapped Luffy out of his trance. The teen nodded and hit the taller man's broad back and laughed.

"Don't worry, don't worry! I'll be alright! I have money to buy food and I'll keep my cell phone fully charged if I need to call somebody", Luffy reassured his friend, who gave a defeated sigh.

"I doubt that I'm able to call you so if you need anything call me. I can't take the same risk as I did last year."

Luffy grimaced.  
Last year he had been alone and caught a fever and his migraine was bugging him all the time. Zoro had called to check on him every hour, making his teacher grow so irritated that his cell phone was taken from him. Luckily Zoro had been able to call Garp before his phone was taken from him and the old man had rushed to be by his grandchild's side.

"Don't worry, this time I'll be alright! I have games and other stuff to do, so you can take it easy this year!"

Zoro stared the shorter teen and did something that surprised Luffy.  
The green-haired male pulled the raven-haired into a tight hug. Completely unprepared for this, Luffy didn't know what to do in this kind of situation so he hugged the man back. The young teen blinked as he felt the older tightening his grip around the boy.

"Zoro?"

"Promise me Luffy that you will be safe and do nothing dangerous", the man's voice was muffled by Luffy's hair but he could still hear it. The teen swallowed, he couldn't promise him that, not when he was going with Sabo to the forest for the Spring Break.  
Thoughts of the suspicion that Luffy held towards Garp and Zoro made the teen bite his cheek. Sure he had his suspicions but Zoro had been with him all the time, during the times when he had felt so helpless and lonely. He had always been there for him and cared for his health. Zoro was very important to him but…

'_I'm sorry Zoro, but I have to know.'_

"I promise."

x  
x  
x  
x

The apartment was quiet and so was Luffy. Zoro had left few hours ago and the teen already felt lonely. He had tried to play some videogames but he wasn't paying any attention to the game and after several Game Overs the teen turned the game console off and surfed through channels. There was nothing on the television so he turned it off too. He sighed and slumped deeper into the sofa. Maybe he could eat something and then pack his things so he would have everything he needed for his stay at Dadan's.

Yup, great plan.  
That prevented him from getting bored for the next few hours.  
Man, he was a genius!

Luffy took out his back bag and opened his closet's door. He took his thick hoodie with long sleeves and cat ears on the hood. He had **NO** idea why the ears but Nami had bought the hoodie for him as a Christmas present, saying that he should start dressing up more properly during winter. What was wrong with wearing his usual sleeveless hoodie around the year? He didn't get sick.  
But the look on the orange-haired woman's face promised certain death if he even thought about arguing. So he had silently taken the present thanked the young woman. Robin had chuckled and told the young teen that he looked rather cute with the hood on.  
Luffy huffed, it was his only long sleeved hoodie and he believed that it'd be rather cold in the forest, so kitty cat-hoodie it was. The teen dropped the cloth in his bag and proceeded to pick other clothes which was much easier than he had first thought. Red vest, shorts, underwear and other stuff. Yup, his bag was packed and now the teen was bored once again. Luffy fell backwards on his bed and pouted, now what? He wasn't hungry and it wasn't even close to his bed time. The teen felt something drop next to neck and he brought his hand up to touch it.

The pendant.

Luffy fingered the pendant lifted up so he could see it.  
Two faces, happy and sad. One grinning and other frowning. The teen blinked and frowned, what was with this pendant? It felt so familiar somehow and wearing it made his chest feel warm and fuzzy. Sabo had said that he knew nothing about the pendant, actually he didn't even know it was a pendant. Just something he got from Ace and that it meant a lot to him.

_Ace._

Luffy's other brother who apparently couldn't stand him. The teen wanted to know what he had done to upset the other so much that he had started to hate Luffy. Ace had looked so vicious when he and Sabo had met him on the dirt path. If Sabo hadn't been there, the man would probably have attacked Luffy and torn him to pieces.  
The teen continued to finger the pendant in his hands. It truly was beautiful. He let his fingertips brush gently the cover and his forefinger's tip followed the outline of the frowning one.  
Such a sad face.  
Such sad eyes, just like… _Ace's?_  
Luffu suddenly remembered the man's eyes, despite the angry and hateful look he was getting he could see the sadness and loneliness behind those crimson eyes. The yearning for someone to comfort the man was evident in his eyes and so was the longing for something or _someone_. Those emotions Luffy knew well since he had experienced the very same feelings many times. Even if he had his best friend, along with other great friends, around him he still felt all alone in his head. He couldn't remember a thing from his past and sometimes his mind was like a big black hole that sucked everything from his memory. In that darkness he was alone, and _being alone was way worse than being hurt_.

"Yosh! It's decided then! I'll make Ace my friend!" a toothy grin came on Luffy's lips and he let out his signature goofy laugh. He would wipe out that sad look on his face and make him smile!

A rather loud growl made the teen snap out of his day dream.  
"Ah, I'm hungry. Maybe there's something in the fridge."

* * *

Sabo was nervous.  
No, nervous wasn't the right word. Actually there were no words to describe his feelings right now. Not at least in any languages he knew, and he knew a few. He had studied but that wasn't the point now!

He had informed Dadan and her gang that Luffy would come for a visit and would stay with them for the next following weeks. The gang had been excited and was now planning on a party to throw for the teen's honor. Dadan had gone silent but Sabo could see it from her eyes that she was beyond happy.

They were having their little boy back.

But that wasn't the point either!  
The problem was Ace and the fact that the man didn't know. His other brother would probably be sulking in their tree house right now and was giving him the silent treatment. Sometimes the older raven-haired male could be such a baby.

Sabo groaned and took his hat from his head, placing it on Dadan's dinner table. He leaned against his hand and closed his eyes. He was imagining the worst scenarios he could come up with when Luffy'd arrive. He wanted the boy to enjoy his stay here but living with Dadan's gang could be a little bit lively sometimes. The orange-haired woman was a hard drinker and every other night she was drunk, and she was a mean drunk. His gang members weren't better from that. They would wild up and last time when they had held a big party the house had actually been torn to two. Dadan had been furious.

So it was a big no-no for Luffy sleeping here for the next two weeks.

Well, there was his and Ace's hideout, an old tree house they had built together when they had still been brothers, all three of them. He and Ace had made it bigger along the years and now it was like a house up in a tree. It had a floor, roof that kept rain and snow away and after experiencing the rudeness of the winter nights they had put on walls to surround the flat. Now it was warm and cozy, like a home. Well it was for them.  
They'd have enough room for Luffy but the thing that made Sabo so fidgety was his brother who would definitely be against the idea. But they had no other choice! They couldn't make the boy camp out under their tree, it would be way too dangerous for a human! Bringing his both hands to his face, Sabo rubbed his tired eyes and slumped on the table. Why this had be so complicated?!

"Agh! No matter, Ace can say whatever he wants but Luffy is staying with us, and that's final!" the blond wolf slammed his open palm on the table and nodded to himself. And if the black wolf had something to say, he could whine it to him. There was no way Sabo would let this opportunity to pass them, not now when they were together again.

The blond humanoid-wolf checked the time and noticed that it was nearly midnight. He decided to go to bed, he had a long day ahead tomorrow. And when Sabo said long, he really meant it. So he pushed the chair back, grabbed his hat and made his way towards the front door.  
The member's of Dadan's family were screaming and laughing in delight.  
_"For Luffy!"_

"_For our little brat!" _were heard from the big living room. Sabo could hear them hitting their glasses together as they drank down the sake Luffy had brought them two days ago. The gang was overly excited which of course warmed the blond's heart.

Sabo exited the house with the thought _'My little brother is coming home'_, and his smile grew bigger as he vanished into the woods.

* * *

Luffy woke up with a groan. He had forgotten to close the curtains last night, _again_, and woke up when the sun was high up, _again_. After muttering some curses about how stupid the sun was and that it should go away, the raven-haired teen sat up and stretched.  
He couldn't remember when was the last time he had slept this well. No nightmares, no headaches, no nothing! How lucky!

Luffy stood up and checked the clock, nodding to himself. He still had few good hours to go before Sabo would come and pick him up. So he did his normal morning routine, completely forgetting that Zoro wasn't here he burst into the greenette's room to complain for the missing breakfast. He opened the room and stared the empty bed for a while, then remembering where the man had gone. The teen blinked and mentally hit himself.

'_I blame my amnesia for this!' _Luffy puffed as an embarrassed blush took over his cheeks. The teen shuffled his way to the kitchen and prepared himself a big breakfast. After that he did the remaining dishes and started to get ready for his big adventure.

Still one hour to go but then he heard a knock on the door.  
Blinking, the boy dropped his bag he had brought to the hallway on the floor and opened the door carefully. Zoro had many times warned him not to carelessly open the door because he could never know what kind of a murderer stood behind the door. At that Luffy had laughed and told his friend that he would kick their asses.

"Sabo?"

A familiar blue top hat appeared behind the door and the said man smiled brightly. Luffy let his brother in and closed the door behind them. The man walked straight to the living room and for the first time Luffy noticed that he wasn't wearing shoes. Not that the blond wolf needed any. The teen followed his brother and saw the man slumped on the sofa, patting the space next to him.

"I know it's a bit early but I couldn't hold myself. I'm just so excited about this", the man explained with a bright smile on his face. Luffy sat next to the man and was suddenly pulled into a tight hug. He let out a surprised yelp as the man crushed him to his chest. _'Woah, he sure likes to show affection'_, the teen was amused and let out a strangled groan to let the man know that he couldn't breathe. Sabo put the teen down and apologized, rubbing his neck ashamed.

"You should have seen how excited everyone was last night when I told them that you're coming. They are going to hold a party for you!"

Luffy was in awe. No one had ever held a party for him before. Sabo could see his brother gaping and chuckled.

"Ju-just for me?"

"Yup, just for you. Let's say that it's you soon-birthday-to-be party since your birthday is only months away so why not celebrate it now!" the blond male ruffled the raven locks and couldn't help but to notice the flash in the teen's eyes as his birthday was mentioned. Luffy closed his eyes and bit down on his lip but soon a wide smile spread to his lips and big brown eyes shined up to Sabo.

"Thank you."

The older man coughed into his fist and turned his face away, feeling his cheeks getting a bit warmer. He continued to pet the boy's head.

After a while, Sabo stood and pulled Luffy with him.

"So what do you say that we visit one place before going to Dadan's?"

"Yup! Where do you wanna go?"

Sabo walked to the hallway to wait Luffy as he checked every room that he had remembered to close the windows, put on the curtains and hadn't let the water running or iron on, which was fun because they didn't have an iron. The teen stopped to his room and dropped his cell phone on his bed. He wouldn't need it and he doubted that Zoro would call him. The pendant tingled as it hit the red hoodie's zipper, Luffy blinked and looked down at the pendant. He didn't want to risk it getting lost or worse, broken. It'd be safer if he took it off and left it here where it'd not get lost. The teen opened the nightstand's drawer and put the necklace under a comic book which had been in that drawer who knew how long. Looking around his room once again, Luffy turned around to meet Sabo leaning against the doorway with a warm look on his face.

"What did ya hid there?"

"Shihih, something very important!" Sabo nodded and sifted to make room for Luffy to exit the room. The teen took to bag from the floor and checked that his keys were in his back pocket. The blond male looked his reflection from the mirror on the wall and adjusted his hat better on his head. He also checked that his tail was hidden underneath his long jacket.

"Ready to go?" Sabo asked from his little brother who nodded eagerly. Luffy opened the front door, letting his older brother out, then closed it and locked it. Sabo took Luffy's back and started to walk down the road to the outskirts.

"Hey, you said you wanted to go somewhere before we go to Dadan's?"

"Oh yeah", the wolf smirked.

"Where?"

"You show me. I want to visit that one bakery shop you bought those cupcakes from, they were delicious and I want more!"

"Oh."

* * *

With three boxes full of cupcakes in his hands, Sabo lead Luffy through the forest to the meadow where Dadan's cabin was. The teen was biting his lip in order to stop himself from laughing at the man in front of him who eyed hungrily the three baker boxes. The owner had been surprised to see Luffy so soon and when Sabo gave him his order, the old man had been even more surprised, but pleased. He even gave them 20 percent off because he liked the duo, he also promised that next time they'd come shopping in his store he would give them one box full of cupcakes for free. Sabo had gone wild, telling Luffy that he would most definitely visit that bakery again.

Luffy's amusement was interrupted by a loud chorus of "_Welcome back little-Luffy!"_ His eyes widened when he saw Dadan's family standing in front of the cabin holding a big sign, which too said welcome back little-Luffy, and they were are smiling and waving at him excited. The small raven-haired teen didn't know what to say. He hadn't noticed that he had stopped on his tracks and stared the sign along with the people around it eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Sabo stopped too and looked behind him, he chuckled.

"Luffy", he said softly. The said teen turned his gaze to Sabo.

"_**Welcome home." **_

x  
x  
x  
x

Sabo watched with warm eyes as everyone re-introduced themselves to Luffy. The teen had had a short break down which lead everyone gathering around him and pulling him into a big group hug.  
The boy was happy.  
Maybe for the first time in his short life he felt like he belonged to somewhere and the fact that there were people who had missed him had also made the poor kid more emotional. The blond wolf could only imagine the sadness and loneliness the boy harboured in his heart. The idea of losing your childhood memories must have affected the boy's growing up a lot.  
But the past didn't matter now, this was now and present was important.

Luffy was laughing and having fun.  
So was the gang. Dadan had walked out at some point and had greeted the small teen with a hug. The teen made a face when the cigarette-smelling woman had lifted him up and hugged him tightly. The woman had slurred some words out and hugged the boy tighter but this time Luffy hugged her back and smiled. The curly-haired woman let the teen down and yelled everyone to get inside. Dogra, the shortest member of the family, pushed Luffy in and yelled something to Magra over his shoulder. The rather big man with a wattle laughed and followed the two short males along with everybody else, Sabo entering the cabin last. The family's dog, Pochi, looked up to Sabo and let out a single bark. The blond wolf sighed and chuckled dryly.

"You're right Pochi, this is going to be rather interesting."

The old dog seemed to agree and took the bag Luffy had brought with him and dragged it inside. Sabo stopped by the door and glanced to the woods on his left, noticing a familiar dark male standing there in the shadows.

'_There you are little brother.' _

Ace saw the smirk addressed to him and spit the ground underneath his bare feet then turning around and disappearing into the shadows. The blond male let out a dramatic sigh and entered the cabin with his cupcakes. These two weeks would surely be interesting to say at least.

x  
x  
x  
x

Luffy couldn't remember when he had this much fun. The food was good and so was the company. The gang had taken it as their mission of the evening to tell tales about Luffy's childhood and his pranks. The teen's favourite was when he had stolen Dadan's huge underpants and tied them to a stick. He had run around the meadow, yelling that he was a pirate and that this was his pirate flag. He had drawn a skull and a cross bone on the underpants.  
Dadan didn't think it had been that funny but everyone could see the smile lingering on her lips as she zipped her alcohol. Even Sabo was laughing as hard as Luffy because he had completely forgotten about the incident.

It actually seemed that the gang knew only few things about Luffy, but it still meant a lot to the teen. From the corner of his eye he could see Sabo staring at him. The raven-haired boy believed that his older brother knew more about him but didn't want to spoil the other's fun.  
But this was fine like this. He enjoyed from all of this.

Pochi had lied down next to Luffy which the teen didn't mind at all because he loved dogs. He scratched the old dog behind his ear and smiled when the dog snuggled his face on Luffy's lap. Scratching the animal behind its ear made its tail wag and the sight made him sneer. The boy stared his brother knowingly and Sabo muttered some curses under his breath and looked away.

Oh no, Luffy wasn't going to drop the golden knowledge he had gained. He was so going to use it against his brother.  
_'I wonder if Ace acts the same way…' _his face lit up and he had made his decision. He would try this on Ace when he was in better terms with the man! Sabo saw the look on the boy's face and gulped.

'_This can't be good.' _

"Hey Sabo", the addressed man turned attention on Dadan, who had taken the place next to him. The woman took a rather big zip of his sake bottle and Sabo didn't believe that it was his first bottle on this evening. By the look of the woman's eyes, the bottle must be her third if not fifth.

"Yes Dadan?"

"Does Ace know?"

"I saw him watching us behind the bushes when we came in."

"What are you going to do?"

Sabo watched as his little brother attacked the dog on his lap. He tickled Pochi underneath his chin making the dog bark and turn on his back, telling the teen to scratch his belly. Luffy laughed and proceeded to scratch the old dog. Dogra burst into laughter, Magra smiled next to him. Everyone in that room were staring the duo with fond smiles. They had all missed this.  
Dadan eyed the blond man next to her the bottle on her lips. Sabo was biting his lip and many emotions battled in his blue eyes.

"I really don't know", the man confessed and buried his face into his hands. Curly Dadan gave her adopted son's back a sympathetic pat.

x  
x  
x  
x

Luffy was exhausted from all the laughing and eating but he didn't want to stop just yet. He was listening to Dogra's story how his boldness was all Luffy's fault. Magra butted in and denied it all, saying that Dogra had never had hair which the small man objected. Everyone's attention was on the argument so they didn't notice Luffy getting up and exiting the cabin. He needed fresh air.  
One member of the family had poured sake in his juice and he only then noticed it when he getting dizzy. Hoping the fresh air would clear up his head, Luffy opened the front door and stepped outside.

For the first time the raven-haired teen saw the night sky.  
It was so much more beautiful here outside of the town, there were so many stars that for a moment Luffy felt mesmerized by the beauty of nature. He walked in the center of the meadow looked around him. The only light source came from Dadan's cabin's windows put it didn't reach far.  
It didn't matter.  
The forest around him was pitch black and it was difficult to make out where the forest started and the meadow ended. The teen closed his eyes and let the forest sounds relax him as a small breeze moved his lock off his face.

"_Ace!"_

Luffy's eyes snapped open as he stared a small boy in front of him running to another boy with black hair, like him but longer, and wolf ears and tail. The taller boy turned around and smiled to the shorter boy and opened his arms. The shorter boy with a red t-shirt attacked the taller one and hugged him.

"_Luffy! You recovered!"_

"_Uh-huh! Dadan said it was just a small cold and that I will better in no time!"_

The taller and older looking boy, addressed as Ace, shook his head. He let go of the small Luffy and whacked his head gently. The black wolf-child then messed the human child's hair making the other one groan in annoyance and pull the straw hat on his head.

"_What did I say about going anywhere near the lake! It's not summer yet and surely it's not warm enough to swim! And what made you think that you'd go there if __you can't even swim__!?"_

"_Buh-, but I saw something shiny at the bottom of the lake and I wanted to see what it was, Ace!"_

"_You scared me-, I mean us half to death!"_

Ace scolded Luffy, who was looking the ground ashamed. The smaller version of Luffy hung his head low, over-sized straw hat shadowed his face and had his hands behind his back. He kicked some random rock on the ground and tried to avoid the eye contact with his older brother.

"_I'm sorry Ace… It just… The shiny thing looked so cool and I wanted to show it to Ace…" _

The older brother's face softened and he gently petted his little brother's head. He kneed down and grabbed the smaller boy's chin, making the boy look at him. Small Luffy had small tears in his eyes and crimson color painted his cheeks. He was that ashamed.

"_It's okay. I'm just relieved that you're alright." _

The effect was instant.  
The child version of Luffy attacked his brother for a hug again but this time burying his face to the other's shoulder. It took Luffy for a while to understand what was going on – he was crying. Ace hugged the small child and let him cry everything out.

The teen version watched the scene, a melancholic look on his face. How he wished to really remember that. To remember how it felt to be loved and love back.  
The heartwarming scene faded away, leaving the teen stare into the darkness.  
Something warm rolled down his cheek and Luffy brought his hand to his face.

Was he _crying_?

The raven-haired teen chuckled dryly and closed his eyes.  
"Ace was so happy when I woke up that morning and the fever was gone. Sabo wasn't so happy thought when he found out that I had escaped the cabin with Ace—"

"You remember."

Luffy spun around and gasped when he saw a tall figure with flaming red eyes right in front of him. The light coming from the windows helped the teen to make out more about the man's appearance.  
The man had neck-length hair, freckles on his face and same kind of wolf ears sticking from his head like Sabo did, but the man's fur color was black. He wasn't wearing any shirt but he wore black knee-length shorts and no shoes. Black tail swung behind him slowly.

"A-Ace..? You're Ace, right?"

Ace eyed the small teen and frowned.  
Lords the kid was small! Luffy was, what, seventeen? Wasn't he supposed to be at least a bit taller or muscular or… something? Not that Ace cared of course.

The two brothers stood in silence, staring each other.  
Luffy felt more and more shorter, it was true that he was smaller than other boys his age but this was ridiculous! Both Sabo and Ace were giants compared to him. His neck was starting to ache because he had to look up so he could meet the man's eyes.  
It seemed that Ace was proud of his height .  
The man crossed his arms in front of his chest and pinned the teen down with his glare.

"You look weak."

Luffy felt anger boil in him.  
He hated when people pointed out his small size but what he hated even more was when people thought he was a weakling, which he was not!

"I am not weak!"

"Well you sure look like on hell of a weakling to me."

"Shut up! You know nothing about me!"

"Well, well, what do we have here?" an amused voice called behind Luffy. The teen turned around to meet the warm blue eyes of his other older brother. Ace scowled.

"Sabo…"

The blond wolf came up to them and circled an arm around Luffy's shoulders. He then stared his other little brother and grinned.

"I see you met your other big brother, Luffy! Ace, look how much our little brother has grown!"

Ace glared his older brother, _six months older_ brother, and scowled. He did not approve this.  
Luffy narrowed his eyes as Ace's red eyes landed on him. He wasn't sure if liked his other brother as much as he liked Sabo. Sure he did want to give him a chance but the first impression was not the nicest so far.

Sabo smiled widely and looked from Luffy to Ace, then back to his littlest brother.  
He was smiling from the outside but in the inside he was a nervous wreck. The tension between these two was heavy and he did not want to know what would have happened if he hadn't come out.  
He blond wolf threw his other arm around Ace's shoulders and brought him to him. He gave his brothers' a squeeze and then laughed. He didn't notice the looks on his brothers' faces directed to each other.

"Isn't it exciting to be together again, brothers?!"

"Hn."

"Sure…"

"The next two weeks are going to be so exciting that I can't even hold myself!" Sabo exclaimed, his brothers said nothing.

"I hope you two are ready to re-live our brotherhood again!"

_'And I hope that I'm ready for some headaches…'_ the blond male thought to himself, the false smile never leaving his face.

* * *

**[A/N] Great! You guys managed to get in the end of this chapter! Here, have some Nutella cupcakes! **

**Just btw;  
Luffy is 17**  
**Zoro is 19**  
**Ace is 20**  
**Sabo is 20 (six months older than Ace, which Ace does not approve)**

**Do you guys think that I have a problem? I like tormenting Luffy by Lucci. OAO'' (LucLu shipper, yeah!)**  
**I'd like to than you all who liked my LawLu one shot! :D I really enjoyed writing it and all the positive reviews made me happy!**  
**I'd LOVE to write a sequel, but there's a catch for you guys.**  
I really love and enjoy reading your reviews, so I decided that when we get to 100 reviews you can choose which fic I'll do next. Either the one-shot sequel for Tattoos, or a DoffyxLuffy one-shot... Or you can throw some ideas for me. XD (Oh Arceus help me...) And when(if) er get to 150, I'll do something like this again! YAAAAY! So, what do you guys say? :D  
**Oh, hey, here's Sabo.**  
**Sabo:** Hello, I would like to point some things out for you all. First of all, like I said on the last chapter; Me, Ace and those other two idiots are not werewolves. We do NOT change into wolves during the full moon or fear silver bullets or spoons, or if we bit you, you won't turn into one of us. We were born this way, and I'm not going to tell you how. Ask your Mommy and Daddy. If we bite you, you'll either loose your limp or die from blood loss, but we're part human and biting is rude and impolite. And I don't want to know where your hands have been so nope, not gonna bite you. And no there are no vampires, they're all fiction. Is this all clear? Do you have something to say?

**Ame: I need to pee. :B**

**Sabo:** Se-seriously?! *facepalms* Do you guys see what I have to deal with here?! Not only are my brothers both idiots but the writer herself is a total yaoi-addicted moron with the memory of a gold fish! That's it, I'm leaving. I have better things to do, like eating those cupcakes!

**...Thanks for reading, and until next time!**

**~Ame**


End file.
